Can A Boo Be Friends With A Human?
by Star-Gamer
Summary: Boos are usually thought as enemies to the Mushroom Kingdom but there is one Boo who wishes to break free from the mould and learn from those considered as mere mortals. But King Boo has plans of his own however. Just what are those plans and what consequences will they have when finally brought to fruition?
1. At the Conference Hall

**Hello readers, I hope that will enjoy this story. It won't be updated often because I have a lot of studying to do. You will probably see this being edited infrequently as well. Please tell me what you think about it but please, no flames. :D**

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**Chapter 1: At the Conference Hall**

On that night, a full moon ascended into the starry sky dispelling the few wispy clouds that were hanging around it. There were, however, dark clouds lurking in the space of sky near the old building. Its silver light illuminated a cobbled path below in which a number of Boos were floating along. They were all headed to a fanciful mansion that now served as the headquarters of the Booish community. They knew the building well, to many, it was home but they had been away on certain missions and visiting the other Booish communities with messages that they were required to deliver. Now they were back and glad to be so. For the purposes of secrecy, the building was in a different location than it was previously.

Many were already there, impatiently waiting in front of the closed iron-wrought gates. A light drizzle began causing the nearby crows to voice their grumbles. In the meantime, the Boos whispered to each other, wondering what this special meeting was called for. The glow from their bodies seemed somewhat fuzzy due to the spattering of rain.

It was nearly midnight, the proposed time for the urgent meeting. Although the details were a little hazy, the Boos could not help but feel excited about it for they had their theories and there was no doubt about one of the topics that they would cover. Clearly, one important note about the meeting would be about _revenge._

The clamour and buzz of the Boos influenced and perked up those that were just arriving at the end of a long and difficult journey. Many had come from afar; from dilapidated mansions across the kingdom. Even members of respectable Booish families had showed up. Aside from curiosity, they wanted to please their liege and perhaps, ask for his guidance in the running of their community. After all, their liege was wise and knew the order of things; this was why he was their monarch.

However… there was one lonely Boo there tonight who would have preferably been somewhere. Treated as somewhat an outcast, this particular Boo could not understand the typical Booish ethics and the traditional code of their livelihood. Why, for example, did they shun themselves from civilisation and from the mortals? Why did they seek ownership of the Mushroom Kingdom when it was already ruled by another family? Why did they delight not only in the darkness but the dark?

The Boo knew that the current monarch of the Mushroom Kingdom was known named Princess Peach. She was famous for being constantly kidnapped by the ferocious Koopa King but despite these niggles, she ran the kingdom effectively and the citizens were in peace. She did not deserve to be overthrown by his fellow Boos. The Boo saw her once and had great difficulty in describing her dazzling appearance; her intoxicating beauty. After that chance sighting, the Boo immediately consulted a dictionary in order to be more prepared for any future meetings. Sadly, they had not yet materialised.

With a resounding creak that could be heard even above the loud chimes of the dark bell tower, the intimidating gates slowly opened causing a great excitement in the Boos. Sighing heavily, the outcast Boo followed his cohorts into the building but not before he was forcibly stopped by one of the guards on duty, an Atomic Boo who demanded to see his pass; just to make sure that he wasn't one of those from those 'wrong' communities. Oh, yes, they wouldn't want any of them here...

The Boo clenched his teeth; this giant Boo was just toying with him because he could. This one already knew him anyway since he belonged to the biggest Booish community; the one residing with their liege. However, he just loved intimidating the little Boo; it was excellent fun. He saw that the noble families had already passed through with no such problems. The Boo showed his pass and the Atomic Boo swiped it just to get a closer look before grudgingly admitting him thorough. The Boo snatched it back and fled inside before something happened to him.

They filed along the candle-lit corridors and as they passed along, the Boo noticed the oil paintings that ran along the walls in their golden frames. The Boo stopped to examine one and he noted its use of rich, vivid colours and the deft brushstrokes here and there. Perhaps though, it would have been even better if the figure was looking in this particular direction and not that particular direction. An art critic such as he picked up on all those miniscule details.

They floated above the faded ruby carpets and ignored most of the maple doors. Then, as a continuous line, they turned right, down a wider corridor and at last, entered the Great Hall. One time, the Boo would have pointed out that this would have been used for hosting balls and just imagine the costumes that those people wore.

Not today though.

Most of the floor had been taken by velvet-cushioned seats all arranged into neat rows. The rows nearest to the stage were of course reserved for the noble, upper-class families. The Boo took a seat nearest to the back reasoning that the further he was away from their king, the better. Not that he was worthy enough to be near the front anyway. Their king was not there at the moment but upon the stage, a projector and screen had been set up with several slides resting on the table next to the machine. Also, a large painting of the Booish king hung upon the wall, staring menacingly at his subjects. A pair of Atomic Boos flanked the equipment and stared oppressively at the crowd before them. Despite their large distance between them, the Boo could not help but flinch and sink into his chair.

Some words escaped from the Boo's mouth; his acquaintance (for that was the best word for him; the little Boo had no true friends) seated next to him turned around and stared.

"Seriously?" he asked. "And you call yourself a true Boo…" He shook his head in disgust.

"And what is the problem exactly with feeling fear?" the Boo challenged. He sounded braver than he felt. "If we didn't feel fear, Taboo, then what are we as p-creatures?"

Fortunately for the Boo, Taboo missed the word that he was almost going to say. _People._ That suggested that they were one of the mortals. But Boos did not stay on the earth forever. Surely that suggested that they were, in fact, mortal?

Taboo laughed and said, "Fear doesn't master _us_. We master_ it_." He then turned away and began speaking with a neighbour.

Everybody began talking once they had made sure they were comfortable and were settling in. For a Booish Mansion, the place was also surprisingly warm as roaring fires were lit on either side of the Great Hall, letting their welcome heat spread about sufficiently. It also contrasted nicely against the thunder and rain outside; here they were quite snug after such a long journey. Early into the journey, they had amused themselves by scaring passers-by than rushing off cackling menacingly as said passers-by fainted with fear. They had been hoping to pass by Toad Town but found out that the quickest route did not go by that place. What a shame for there were ripe pickings to be had there. (Some of them did remember however, that those two humans lived there as well. Bleh.)

What was it about people that all the Boos he knew seemed to dislike? He wasn't particularly sure, perhaps some were jealous that death was an easy choice to take for the mortals; they had the ability to be free of the world in an instant when the time was come. Boos had a different sort of life to the mortals; they didn't just simply disappear and lose all their life energy. No, they were ghosts. Or was it that the Boos felt they had greater hardships than the mortals? To the little, lonely Boo, he couldn't quite understand it. How peculiar that mortals wanted eternal life and immortals wanted death. Was he naïve? Perhaps, but he was compassionate.

"We can't be in control all the time!" said the little Boo, interrupting the conversation. "Everything else gets scared, why can't we?"

Taboo gave a laugh that sounded like a hiss. "Our enemies feel fear, we are there to direct that fear. If I didn't know anything better, I would say that you are the ghost incarnation of your namesake."

The Boo was about to say that he was proud of his namesake but decided against it. After all, he had got into trouble over his unusual views before and he had still not entirely cleared his list of demerits from the last time. But really, there was nothing wrong with his namesake. He had heard all the stories just like the rest of the Boos had and he couldn't find anything to criticise about, only admire. True, he had never seen that person but maybe one day…

"Look, he's here," whispered Taboo.

The lights above him began to dim and there was a raucous sound of applause as their king waltzed onto the stage wearing his most impressive crown and a self-assured smirk. The Boo stared depressively at the faraway figure and shrank even more. Why did they adore him so much? Kings could be tyrants when they wanted to be and theirs positively rejoiced in such a role. He was easily scared and this figure gave him a good enough reason to be so. Then, their King began to speak:

"Friends, companions, it seems to have been a long time since we were last gathered here and I thank you most heartily for making the effort to come here. Many moons have also passed since we were last here in the Mushroom Kingdom. We shall be residing here for some time now. But now, we have important matters to discuss for they concern the matter of our enemies, one in particular as he is of extreme significance to us. I hope that you shall be listening carefully."

The hall was deathly silent as they hung onto every word that their King would speak. The Boo let out an inaudible sigh; he knew what was coming. This was their so-called leader: King Boo, the greatest wielder of Booish magic; the strongest and most devious of the lot. Now he was playing to his audience again; playing them like an orchestra on a mere whim.

"Last time we were here, we were to aid Bowser, King of the Koopas in a plot to not only take over this kingdom but eventually the rest of the world. It is a matter of serving the world, not letting the world serve you, though, if we are to be seen as harmonious, respectable citizens. Our law would be just and there would be no questions of leadership. We merely need to set things in order for there can be such corruption on this planet, can't there? Everybody would know their place and wars would cease to exist. Surely we could run the world with the wisdom and judgement that is demanded of a King. Indeed, there must be some of us required to direct that wisdom. To turn this incomplete world into one that is ours, full of vitality and spirit…" The Boos laughed on cue at his little joke. "… is a dream of mine. And it is one I shall share with all of you faithful Boos. Because I plan to dispose of the Koopa whom I once considered an ally. He is merely a spanner in the works.

"Why did he enlist my help; our help in the first place? Because he is incapable of accomplishing even the most simple task of kidnapping a princess! He betrayed us during the Great Revolution and that cannot be forgiven. We are no mere underlings! You do of course remember the Great Revolution, the last attempt upon conquering the Mushroom Kingdom, this pristine kingdom to begin with in the great scheme of things. The Great Revolution would have placed us and the Koopa race within the seat of power and we would be persecuted no longer, we would take control and run things in a much more efficient manner than those foolish Toads could ever have done.

"However, allies that were to be trusted were in reality, fake. And our plans were shattered into countless pieces. That is why we must work only with the other Boos because we can trust each other and we are able to cooperate very well together. Situations have changed from that previous time however and that is something we can work to our advantage. If we pool our strength together, we can easily vanquish his army! If we are to achieve our plans of world domination, we must stay vigilant and erase everybody who stands in our way!"

The Boo audience floated upwards applauding their king, screaming and yelping wildly at his rousing speech. They praised his words of power. Yet the outcast Boo only curled up in his chair, a single tear fell to the floor. In this world of darkness and revenge, he was completely alone.

The Boos sat down again as King Boo placed the first slide into the projector. Two figures flashed on the screen causing the Boos to hiss with fear and anger. (Of course, they did not want to admit this fear.) They knew these enemies all right. The Boo looked up with genuine interest and gazed closely at the on-screen mortals. He had never seen these people before, at least not for real. He recognised them as humans…

Humans. In this world, there were many Toads, Koopas, Boos, Shy Guys and all the rest of them each with certain characteristics that represented their species or sub-species. But humans… there weren't many of them, not many at all.

"As you all well know, Bowser is not a problem at all for us to deal with. Not a problem at all. Rather, it is these two whom we must thwart." King Boo paced up and down on the stage. "Defenders of the Mushroom Kingdom, descendants of the Ancient Tribe, they are unaware of their own ancestry and nobody knows how their powers were obtained. Yet they are still human, only human, and humans are very rare upon this world which is one of the reasons why they are well-known. Twin brothers… if we could get them to work for us, oh that dream would almost certainly be accomplished. And yet, they seem very incorruptible so there isn't really much choice for us but to destroy them. How much can two humans take? You may well ask yourselves. They are supposed to be mortal, only mortal and yet..."

King Boo trailed off, leaving the Boos to come to their own conclusion about these twin brothers. The slide was replaced with another showing the red-capped plumber displaying an awesome vortex of blazing fire. King Boo's eyes momentarily flashed red. He hated that figure, that human.

It was strange therefore that those two such humans rose to be the world's defenders from all sorts of evil; two brothers with an incredible bond that could never be broken. It had been an ancient legend, originating in forgotten times that had now come to pass. If the plan to destroy them at birth had come to pass… well, the world would have no shortage of evil. It would be full of darkness and evil but thanks to the courageous brothers' efforts, it was always kept at bay.

There had been stories about those brothers linked to the Ancient Tribe of whose origins and existence were shrouded in deep mystery. The Boos liked telling such stories as it were about other species, especially the humans ever since these two, if only to show their own superiority over all the others. It had been said that the designs of all creatures were first drawn up in Star Haven although they were not actually the creators; such a thing happened all by itself after some stardust fell to the earth along with other elements. The humans evolved from the rarest element, the Aurora Dust. That was why there was so few. A select few learned magic; able to control this as it was one of the great properties of the dust. Eventually, most of the humans were split up and the wise Ancient Tribe was formed, somewhere north of where the Mushroom Kingdom was today. They intermingled with the Toads, the Koopas, but some grew into conflict against the Boos, others with other humans. Many it was said, were destroyed, the magicless ones. The Ancient Tribe kept out of sight and vanished into obscurity.

Little was known about them as everybody knew but they did command powerful magic and skills. King Boo was interested in these two brothers of prophecy for that reason. But there were other reasons. He stared at the picture, his lip curling into a sneer.

"You see that this is one of… Mario's most powerful attacks. Do not get in the way of _that._ Our scientists are working on a potion solution to combat this. Take heed of their powers. They are not to be underestimated. Oh, they may only be human but when you stop to look at them, you see that there is something more…"

The next slide showed a picture of the green-capped plumber. His hands glowed with the brilliant power of electricity having just unleashed a devastating attack of thunder. This time, the cries of anger from the Boos were even more pronounced. The outcast Boo was even more fascinated with this person. He stared at the picture knowing who it was…

"Yes…" the King whispered softly. "What you are looking at is Luigi. _Bleh!_" he spat with venom. "We had successfully imprisoned his brother in the painting; there was no chance he could have escaped. Our plans would have run smoothly as I lured Luigi towards the same fate. It should have succeeded… but it did not. Why? Because of that infernal device upon his back! Because he had somehow plucked up the courage to rescue his brother! One by one, our number was picked off by him. He had even defeated my most powerful minion Boolossus!"

The Boos that formed the giant Boolossus shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

"He eventually got to me and to my shame, he defeated me." These words he whispered just to show the amount of hatred that he had fr that human. "It must have been luck and that I had underestimated him. But next time, I would be more prepared. Those brothers have caused so much trouble for us in the past. If we are to ever succeed in our plans, we must defeat the Mario Brothers…"

"Why?"

One word rang out in that hall and that word did not come from King Boo. Eerily, the audience all turned as one to the source of the sound and found that it was the outcast Boo.

_Oh, sugar,_ he thought as he turned bright pink. He forced himself to look at the stage and not turn invisible. He hadn't meant for it to slip out but now that it was in the open, he knew that he was going to be punished for it. _Well,_ he thought. _I might as well go for the whole hog now._

"Why?" he repeated. "Why should we defeat them? Over the years, they have only been protecting this kingdom, risking their own lives every time. What right have we got to try and take away that kingdom from those people? Why can't we be satisfied with what we have got?"

With a look of pure hatred on their faces, they all turned back to King Boo to hear his words. To the Boo's great surprise, the King merely grinned.

"So you question my intentions do you? Well, well, well, that does take some courage. Rather like that shown by your counterpart eh, Booigi?"

The Boo audience laughed at his name, that he should be named after such a cowardly, weak mortal and a human at that. Booigi turned an angry red colour and tried to refrain from crying. Truth to be told, he greatly admired the Mario Brothers but he was even more impressed by Luigi. Luigi was often ignored, a man from the shadows despite his kind nature and unnatural power. He was very emotional and harboured many secrets close to his heart. In many ways, they were very similar to each other.

He had heard the stories about the brothers but mainly about Mario. His greater interest lay within Luigi simply because he had heard less of him. Apparently, the Toads often called Luigi a coward. But how could a person be a coward if he faced up against the dark forces of evil of his own will, willing to protect the people despite the great risk towards his own life? Just because he got scared, it didn't mean that he was a coward. So much for gratitude.

"He has shown his power many times before but he is nothing but a pathetic coward. How many times must you be told this?" King Boo wearied at having to say this just as much as Booigi wearied of hearing it. "He is one half of a duo who has subdued us time and time again. You ask why we can't be satisfied. Look around you. We are forced to live in dark woods and forests like wild animals. The Toads think we are wild animals! We have magic and they do not and they fear us for that reason even though the magic can be used for good. We can prove to them that we are capable of so much more. We have had the Age of Toad and Koopa. Now it is time for the Age of Boo!"

"But how can we just steal the livelihood of these people?" cried Booigi over the tumultuous applause of the audience. "They have not tried to rise up against us! They haven't have they? Why would they want to? They just want to live in peace! Why can't we do the same?"

"Upon the fringes of darkness? Ever in the eternal night?"

_How ironic,_ Booigi thought considering the typical Booish love of the dark.

"If we just took some time to learn from these people and learn from Mario and Luigi. I would volunteer to venture into their community to find out about them! Don't they say knowledge is power? We are all ignorant! If I could find out what they are like, what they do, perhaps we could change things for the better!"

Booigi flinched from the smile that appeared on King Boo's face. A plan had been forming over the past few days ever since he had found out that… interesting information. Booigi would greatly contribute to it. Indeed, it would be good to make him useful.

"Why," he said in a warm tone of voice. "You are absolutely right, Booigi. You shall contribute to our understanding of them, especially as you are possibly a Boo that the mortals are more likely to get along with. Indeed, we must learn more of the mortals and overcome our disadvantages, especially shyness. And if we knew more about Mario and Luigi…" He said their names almost venomously. "Yes, that is a most marvellous idea! And you volunteer, Booigi? What courage! You are doing something great for your fellow Boos. Now listen to me."

Booigi floated upwards, entirely focussed upon the King, he could barely believe what he was hearing. "You must set out immediately. I want you to spend two weeks in Toad Town, which is where the Mario Brothers live. I want you to deliver a full report to me at the end of those two weeks. This we may study for future use which can be discussed then. I am expecting several pages upon this. Do you understand?"

Booigi nodded meekly, ignoring the shocked gazes and voices of the other Boos. This, he had not expected at all.

"Then what are you still doing here? Go now!"

Booigi zipped out of the hall and sped down the twisting corridors before the King could utter another word. King Boo turned back to his minions wearing the same grin from before.

"Like I stated before, he shall contribute to our understanding. He shall improve the plan. And now, let us continue with the meeting shall we? He has heard what he has needed to hear. We have not quite finished yet…"

The Boo audience looked at each other and started cackling triumphantly alongside their King.

* * *

"So it seems that you're going to be leaving us for a while," said Taboo as Booigi eventually came into the Drawing Room where the rest of the Boos congregated after the meeting. They glanced over at him before turning their attention to something else again. "Well, I say good luck to you because you're going to need it!"

Booigi sighed and sat himself down for a moment. He had just been given precise instructions on how to get to Toad Town, where to go, what to do, etc. He had only half taken it all in. He wasn't a mere fledging; he knew where it was for heaven's sake! Besides, this was his first chance of independence; he wanted to do this on his own.

"Why do you think I need luck, Taboo?" questioned Booigi as he fiddled with the flowers on the table next to him.

"Because you do; it's as obvious as the night sky being black."

"Actually, the night sky isn't always black such as when the moon is out, it makes the sky surrounding it more of a dark blue colour and in the extreme north and south of the planet, the sun never sinks below the horizon depending on the time of year. So although the time could be what we consider as night, like around midnight, it may not actually be black so your words technically do not suggest my needing of luck as something obvious."

"You always do this!" seethed Taboo. Booigi ignored him; he was used to his anger and so carried on arranging the vase's flowers. "You always try to put one over me because you think you're oh-so-smart!"

"Yes, well, I have to be better at something, haven't I?" Booigi murmured. Taboo excelled at using magic and everybody admired him for it. Booigi had to admit to himself that he was jealous of this fact. Still, at least he could read without having to say the words out loud.

"I suppose so…" grumbled Taboo as he also sat himself down. He moodily stared at nothing in particular and the pair said nothing for a fair while. The tinkle of piano music and laughter could be heard in the background.

Booigi had been having his own private thoughts when Taboo blurted out: "How come you're getting to go on this trip, anyway?"

"I'm sorry?" said Booigi. He put the flowers to one side now that they were to his liking.

"I said how come you're getting to go on this trip anyway? What have you done to deserve it? I've managed to get the highest score in the magic exam! You never even sat it!"

"Maybe King Boo doesn't want magic this time," said Booigi patiently. "And besides, he liked my idea; you didn't come up with it. If you have any complaints, why don't you go and tell him?" Taboo blanched and muttered his excuses.

Booigi allowed himself a small smile. That one always shut him up or at least, diverted his attention to something else. Taboo was slightly older than him although both were quite young. But just because of that age gap, he always thought that he could lord it over Booigi.

"Reckon you'll see them then?"

"Who?" asked Booigi, pretending not to know what Taboo was talking about.

"The Mario Brothers of course!" said Taboo. "You've only wanted to see them since like forever! Especially the cowardly one."

"His name is Luigi and he isn't cowardly!" Booigi snapped. "Since when do you risk yourself to save others?"

"Since when did I need to?" Taboo retorted back.

_Never,_ thought Booigi. _Who goes up against Boos? They say they all together but I think they are all out for themselves. Otherwise, why was Taboo so eager to get rid of Gameboo when the others were having that competition?_

"I think I'll be heading off now," said Booigi stiffly as he floated upwards and towards the door leading out into the foyer. "I'll see you at some point, not for a while hopefully."

He wandered over and was glad to see that the Atomic Boos had left their post. They must have no longer been needed. He was about to head outside when he noticed a glow behind him and was surprised to see Taboo floating there.

"What?" said Booigi glumly. "Come to insult me or gloat or do something else just to make me feel bad? I can't stay to listen, I need to go now."

"Actually, I was going to say goodbye and I was serious about the whole good luck thing seeing that you're helping his Majesty out and all…"

"Oh," said Booigi, now even more surprised. "Well, er… thank you."

"No problem, you're welcome," said Taboo. "Just… be careful. And don't come back home crying because you're all scared by something. That would be a big fail."

Booigi almost smiled. "It would." Taboo looked at him for a moment before taking his leave; his seeing Booigi off his good deed for the week.

* * *

Booigi stepped out of the mansion into the pouring rain. Lightning occasionally flashed in the dark sky, closely followed by rumbles of thunder some distance away. Booigi consulted a map that one of the guards gave him and quickly located Toad Town on it. Booigi felt happy, happier than he had felt in a long time. He would travel now, even though he was afraid of the dark and possibly be in Toad Town by the time the sun would begin to rise. As he set off, he knew this would be the start of something new.

Something special.


	2. A Chance Meeting

**In answering Donna's question, Mario and Luigi first gained their respective powers of fire and thunder (not to be confused with the Fire Flower) in **_**Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga**_** as the Thunderhand and the Firebrand. They obtained these after crash-landing on Oho Jee Island. As a GBA game, it might be hard to get hold of but I highly recommend it; it is awesome. **

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**Chapter 2: A Chance Meeting**

Day broke on the Mushroom Kingdom bringing to the sky a vivid streak of golden hues and peachy tones. Booigi woke up to the morning glory and wiped off the dew droplets off his body. He thought back to the previous night still hardly able to believe that King Boo gave him permission to travel to Toad Town and meet the Mario Brothers.

As he pulled himself upright, he wondered what they would be like when he finally met them. Perhaps they would have misgivings though because he was a Boo? Would they chase him away, afraid that he was a spy for the ghostly King? Booigi wouldn't blame them if they did this, who could when one of the brothers had been locked inside a painting barely a year ago? Yet would they be naturally prejudiced against him? Booigi shook his head, determined not to believe this. He had always been a sorrowful, worrying sort of Boo, scared by most things and feared by nobody. He glanced down at his map and according to it, he needed to head due west from where he was currently standing and follow the winding and treacherous path through Toadwood Forest before reaching the hilly plains that surrounded the hometown of those famous brothers.

He scratched his head, pondering over the complicated cartography and felt some of his enthusiasm ebb away. It wasn't the distance as such that was putting him off, it wasn't that particularly long, only a few leagues really, but it was the fact that he would have to traverse through a dark, scary forest that was no doubt full of monsters. The forest was made all the creepier by the fact that etched on the bark of some of the trees were some incredibly life-like images of Toads, that polka-dotted, mushroom-topped species, but with grotesque expressions. He shuddered and moved on, thankfully unaware of the true history behind those 'images'.

Toadwood Forest also bordered on the edge of the Boo Woods and Booigi had heard that weird creatures such as Broozers and Terekuribos resided in those woods. He gave a small gulp considering his chances. And yet as he shamefully thought of fleeing, he remembered the courage that Luigi had shown upon facing down King Boo in a bid to save his brother. Swallowing this Dutch courage, Booigi pressed on.

No other Boo would have any qualm about entering a dark forest by themselves; on the contrary, that was where many of them lived; it was in their nature. Anywhere that was dark and decidedly creepy was considered home to the Boo population. Yet as Booigi had consequently tried to explain to the others (and failed in doing so), he was very unlike the others. They never understood; they never cared. Harsh memories surfaced every time his tears fell…

* * *

If they had bothered to listen to him properly, they would have found it to be a very sad story and possibly make them reach for a box of tissues. The incident happened when Booigi was very young, happy and carefree, not knowing much of what happened in the world; a number of years ago. He had been travelling with his Boo Clan but notably with his parents and his older sister, Teresa. They also had different views about the world of mortals and were intrigued by the humans and they had passed these views onto their son.

The Clan consisted of a group of fifty; they were exploring the strange yet exciting Kingdom peacefully and learning about their inhabitants. Most of the places they went to had citizens who were actually quite pleasant and understanding in contrast to the usual thoughts of Boos. Slowly, because of their hard work, they were converting the once sceptical into kind, thoughtful Boos, eager to learn about those around them, those that they referred to as mortals. The Clan desired for a peaceful co-existence between all species, ghost and non-ghost. It was a terrific goal to accomplish but they were confident that they would, one day with patience, be able to achieve this.

However… a Hunter Clan ambushed the whole group, capturing them all in unbreakable chains and dragged them to their Headquarters; away from the mortals, away from civilisation.

It had been pathetically easy. The Hunters were well-trained in the arts of attack. And these… ha. What sort of Boos were these exactly?

Brutal whips were used to speed up their progress on what turned into a ferocious, stormy night. Mother Boo tried to comfort her sobbing son only for him to be torn away from her. Screaming with loss and panic, Booigi was bundled with the other young captives and spirited away to another section of the fortress. None of them understood what was going on; perhaps it was better that way.

As the Hunters had reasoned, the young would be learned in their ways for the young were easier to teach and if they did not comply, then they would be put to back-breaking work in the gold mines. This was the reason why the Hunter Clan was so rich; this wasn't the first ambush they had done or first time they had enforced slavery. The adults were to be executed for their rebellion-inducing views. There was nothing that they could do about them. _"Traitors!"_ they had scoffed. _"Traitors to the whole community! We spit upon you!" _They… were never seen again. Actually, that was not strictly true.

A large, stinking prison held all the young Boos, some who were barely past babyhood. Highly polished chains hung menacingly from the stone walls whilst rats scurried sneakily across the filthy floor. Little Booigi hurled himself continuously against the barred window, desperate to be reunited with his parents. But these windows were designed to repel Booish invisibility tactics and in any case, Booigi had not yet developed this skill. He pressed himself against the bars, clearly hoping to squeeze through them. He then realised that they were too narrow even for his little body and he consequently broke down into noisy tears.

The doors to the chamber below him slammed open and being bayoneted forward by the Hunters were the scholar Boos of his clan. Booigi looked down through the bars and quickly spotted his mother, father and sister in the crowd. He urgently squeaked to them but he was too far away for them to hear. They were being herded into a line, still connected by the chains. Squealing with utmost terror, Booigi saw the gleaming, terrible weapon that lay on the pedestal; the Boos were going to be executed. Yes, executed.

He couldn't tear his eyes away from the awful scene. One by one with words of strength and looks of grim determination, each Boo's life was extinguished. Whether they were moving to the 'otherworld' or they were actually killed, Booigi was not completely sure but he was terrified all the same. He saw his beloved sister walk up to the executioner and bid him not to ruin her bow. He could not tear his eyes away from the scene. There were no words to describe it.

His mother and father were next. They were both stout of heart and brave. _"You shall be the death of yourselves!" _his father cried before he was executed. His mother said no such words to her Bringer of Death as she gazed upwards and noticed her son. _"Be safe… Remember us, Booigi…"_ And then, as swift as the rushing wind, the blade fell with barely a sound. Booigi watched it all, his heart fit to burst…

* * *

Booigi angrily cried out, tears flooding down his face in his anguish. He wiped away the hot tears quickly. He clenched himself and attempted to lock the memory up again in the black, 'Not to be Opened' pit of his mind. Nothing could be gained by constantly reflecting on that terrible day but at least he had kept his mother's wish…

Gladly distracting himself, Booigi glanced around and saw that he was deep in the midst of Toadwood Forest. The shrieks and cries of the creatures and renegade Boos echoed throughout. He spun around, fervently checking each shadow; they could have been everywhere, ready and waiting, ready and waiting to pounce, to…

Booigi heard a different cry unlike any that were obviously common to this forest. It was also one of loud pain. He instinctively threw himself behind a safe-looking tree and peered out through one of the gnarled branches. So many trees and dark places. At this point, he realised he had gotten himself lost.

Rain clouds began to gather above, darkening the previously bright sky and releasing a barrage of rain. It made it hard for the timid Boo to listen to the thuds of fast footsteps that were increasing in volume. Closer and closer they came, followed by a non-rhythm of more footsteps that seemed to be chasing after the first person. Booigi hated conflict and considered fleeing into the sky. Yet this would have been a bad idea as it would have put Booigi into the open, the reason why he didn't travel above the forest in the first place.

Before he could reach a decision, a figure burst into the clearing, gasping and panting for breath. He clasped at a dark wound in his side and shuddered as he inspected it. Booigi suddenly gasped, realising who it was and moved out a little from his hiding spot. He watched as the man tore off the sleeve from his shirt and wrapped it around his bleeding wound. He then flopped down onto the wet ground, barely able to go on much further. Booigi edged out a little further…

And zipped back behind the tree as the pursuers leapt into the clearing, teeth bared and also gasping for breath. Their eyes gleamed as they saw the target. The young man struggled onto his feet and slowly removed his hand from his side, clenching his hands into fists, raising them in a defensive stance. The pursuers laughed and relaxed a little. Booigi recognised them as Koopatrols. Dark Koopatrols.

"So we meet again," one of them laughed. "Will you come quietly this time or do we have to deliver the pain from before?"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah!"

"Shut up, you dolts!" the first Koopatrol hissed. "You know what happens when you two start talking! God, the moment you two start opening your traps, we get into trouble."

"Trouble? I've constantly got trouble with you guys."

The Koopatrols turned around and saw Kamek, Bowser's right-hand Magikoopa hovering in the air on his prized broomstick. He pushed his spectacles back on and stared down at the man. Both had sharp, piercing gazes in their eyes. Kamek took out his wand.

"Ah… Luigi," he muttered. "His Grumpiness is getting tired of waiting so we would really like you to come peacefully. If you could also inform us about where Mario is, that would be really splendid because you know what he thinks about him, hmm? So I'll pencil you in for a morning meeting with Bowser and maybe he'll finally calm down once he's got you." Ha, as if it would be as easy as that…

"_Mamma mia, qui andiamo di nuovo_," Luigi sighed in a language that Booigi had never encountered before.

Booigi looked at Luigi closely, elated to be finally seeing him in the flesh, so to speak. He was tall and slim with bright, sapphire eyes and a luxuriously smooth moustache. Luigi seemed to command an essence of peace and friendliness. And yet his eyes also hid many secrets that he wished to stay hidden. Luigi wore his customary clothing as usual; hardy blue overalls, green shirt and a green hat emblazoned with the letter 'L'. His white gloves shone an eerie blue colour, sparks occasionally jumped from them. Intriguing.

"If you think I'm going to Bowser's Castle, forget it! What sort of person would I be if I suddenly handed myself over to Koopa filth like you?" A deep yet fruity voice too; it made Booigi draw out further again.

"Are you sure you won't reconsider?" said Kamek icily. "I can cure that hurt in a trice if you come with us quietly. I'm sure Lord Bowser just wants to ask you a few questions, that's all. Just because I'm his right-hand Magikoopa, doesn't mean I know everything. Ha, that would be wishful thinking."

"Yeah," chuckled one of the Koopatrols. "I wouldn't like to see anyone get hurt, if you know what I mean."

"_Shut up, you dolt!"_

"You're more important than you think… than we thought," said Kamek lightly, watching Luigi's expression change from anger to curiosity and suspicion. "After all, we did want both of you all those years ago, didn't we? Surely that signifies something? Of course it does. It would be foolishneess to say otherwise. Now, I'll ask one more time: will you come with us to Bowser's Castle?"

Silence resonated within Toadwood Forest, almost as if it was waiting for an answer as eagerly as Kamek. He had realised long ago certain feelings that Luigi held: his simple wish of being accepted for who he was not what he appeared to be. He wanted equal footing with his brother; he was as courageous as he was; it was all he had ever asked for knowing that his destiny was to be a steadfast protector of the world. Kamek found out things and was adamant in doing so; this was why he was the right-hand Magikoopa. Kamek wondered whether he had him this time; Luigi's gaze was kept low. What was he thinking…?

Luigi looked up staring straight at Kamek. Then, still keeping his gaze on him and with very little warning; he launched a speeding fireball at one of the Koopatrols, bowling him over and knocking over the Koopatrols as well as they tried to scramble out of the way. Luigi raised one eyebrow, giving his answer loud and clear as the Koopatrol put out the flames angrily.

Despite his fear of conflict, Booigi couldn't help but feel quite thrilled by what was coming up next. Kamek raised his wand above his head in an offensive stance; not entirely surprised by this reaction. He held a look of grim determination.

"If that is how you're going to play it, fine," he said. "I enjoy a good game as well as the next Koopa. You guys! Surround him and keep yourselves covered! You know how he fights!" The Koopatrols cracked their knuckles; they had been training for this fight.

The Koopatrols, armed with metallic spiky shells, tucked their heads in and charged mercilessly at Luigi. They spun manically as they rushed around the clearing. One of them ricocheted off some rocks, the other missed Luigi by a margin. The remaining Koopatrol, his aim true, slammed into Luigi and sliced into his wound again. Luigi yelped, sensing weakness in his side. Booigi winced. The Koopatrols charged at him in one line causing Luigi to leap out of the way. The self-made bandage was only just holding; Luigi was clearly hurt.

Kamek swung his wand and released several large shots of magic, consisting of fire, ice and lightning. Luigi only just managed to avoid them; one of the shots set a tree alight. (Booigi avoided a falling branch, squeaking with fright.) However, the Koopatrols took advantage of this distraction and bearing their spikes, rushed at Luigi. One of them went crashing into the rocks. Luigi lashed out with his foot, catching a Koopatrol in the stomach. Then he whipped out his hammer, ready to defend himself. He held his ground as they charged up a super attack, spinning so fast that they were merely a blur. Booigi missed the moment they launched themselves but the next thing he heard was the loud whack of Luigi's hammer against their hard shells. They were thrown into the air and landed painfully on their backs but the hammer flew out of Luigi's grasp.

"Damn you!" one of the Koopatrols screamed. "My shell's been cracked!" Luigi allowed himself a self-satisfied smirk.

Kamek then zoomed forwards, using his magic to electrify himself. Luigi reacted by unleashing his own electrical attack and so burst forth several bolts of lightning, the blue light illuminating his face. Kamek screamed as his broomstick caught fire and he fell to the ground flightless. He growled at Luigi, full of rage, and charged up his trusty wand. A vicious, roaring fireball launched itself at Luigi. He attempted to back-flip out of its path and for the most part, missed it. However, the fire seared the front of his overalls forcing Luigi to roll around on the floor to put the flames out. He steamed as the rain continued to pelt down; he already looked soaked to the skin.

"Give it up now!" screeched the Magikoopa. "You're outnumbered and you're only going to make it worse for yourself!" He was completely ignored.

Booigi was quite entranced by Luigi's athletic abilities as he flipped and twisted out of the way of various attacks. He was injured, yes, but he was still very strong. His eyes seemed to glow with some sort of inner power that nobody else (excepting Mario) really understood. Kamek narrowly avoided another electrical attack and continued his wild and furious attacks of fire. He was infuriated by the man's ease of fighting; it came so naturally to him. This wasn't a game after all; Kamek played and fought to win.

Panting for breath, Luigi dashed across the clearing, avoiding an attack from one of the miscreants with the sole aim of getting his beloved hammer back while the second Koopatrol was still incapacitated, the third one was not and he scrambled back onto his feet, ready to charge at his enemy again. Luigi sidestepped out of the way of the clumsy attempt of attack and snatched the hammer back up. He was dismayed by the damage to it though. It could probably only withstand one more shot. Nevertheless, there was no time to fix it and Luigi put it out of sight just as the Koopatrols were all upright again wearing the most furious of expressions.

The Koopatrols surrounded him while Kamek was trying frantically to repair his broomstick. His beloved broomstick... why did this keep happening to him? Couldn't these heroes make it easy for once?

The Koopatrols prepared to land their most violent punches upon Luigi and all three sprinted towards him at the same time, making sure that their spiked helmets were pointing at him. Luigi almost chuckled as they came closer to him and sprang out of the way with one of the jumps that he was most famous for. Too late to stop, the Koopatrols crashed into one another and cursed themselves and their companions. They struggled onto their feet as the helmets snagged onto each other and Kamek, wearily noticing this, launched a shot of magic in Luigi's direction to stop him from escaping.

Infuriated by his opponent; one of the Koopatrols, the one who had been set alight earlier, charged towards Luigi, this time much faster than before and viciously slashed at him with a spiked hand. Luigi slammed into the ground and took several punches to his body before he managed to kick the Koopatrol off. He went on his back again and Luigi flipped himself upright just in time before Kamek sent a barrage of hot flames his direction.

The Koopatrol was picked up by the others and they wasted no time in trying to attack Luigi again. They tucked themselves in their shells and rapidly spun across the ground towards Luigi. Two of them zoomed straight past however and Luigi managed to grab the last one by its tail and promptly threw it at Kamek. Kamek deflected this attack; sending the unfortunate, screaming Koopatrol into a prickly bush and growled furiously.

"Oh, you have made me angry now…" said Kamek, as if he wasn't angry enough already.

The Koopatrols (after dragging their unlucky partner out of the thorns) regrouped again and thinking quickly, realised that they had another weapon up their sleeves and brought out a vial of potion. They drank it while Luigi was occupied with the fireball-launching and cursing Kamek.

Suddenly, before Booigi's very eyes, they enlarged up to four times their original size. Luigi's eyes widened with shock as the grinning adversaries lumbered up to him, more deadly than before. A ferocious swipe slammed Luigi into a tree and out of sight. He heard something snap inside. Kamek cackled gleefully.

He had landed directly in front of Booigi who was positively terrified. Luigi barely took notice of him and heaved himself upright, groaning with pain. He looked almost as pale as the Boo. Booigi looked back at the Koopatrols who were shouting, "COME OUT! COME OUT WHEREEVER YOU ARE!" They were coming closer and their very footsteps were shaking the trees. Luigi struggled to move; this battle was costing him a lot.

Without another moment's thought, Booigi rushed towards Luigi. Luigi yelped as a cool, unusual sensation took over his body. The Boo nestled inside him and with the powers that Boos possessed, Luigi turned invisible.

Booigi was amazed by what he could feel as he shared Luigi's body; it was magnificent; he had never felt power like it. He had possessed other creatures before; every Boo did that but the feeling of light and power here could not be topped. He could even feel Luigi's rapid heartbeat and Boos did not have a heart like mortals. Metaphorically speaking of course.

Luigi leapt up, suddenly feeling energized. His eyes seemed to glow an even brighter blue. He ran back into the clearing and executed a stomp on the Magikoopa's head. Kamek wildly swung his glowing wand, scanning for Luigi.

"Where did he go?" he yelled to the Koopatrols. "Find him! Find him!"

Luigi jumped upwards and with his hammer, brought it crashing down on the head of a Koopatrol cracking his shell helmet. The Koopatrol shrank back to normal size and fainted with the aftermath of the killer blow. The other two looked apprehensively at each other and did not notice the rushing sound of the hammer slamming on their heads. Kamek muttered something incomprehensible and possibly rude, staring at the fainted Koopatrols. Using his magic, he scanned the area with thermal vision. Luigi was picked out almost instantly and Kamek grinned.

_Time to end this_, they both thought.

Sensing that he had been spotted, Luigi formed an electrical ball of energy in his hands, Booigi felt the power too as he was sharing Luigi's body. It was... well, electrifying. Then as Kamek was ready to strike, Luigi unleashed his most powerful attack, the Thunderhand. The electric shock drove through Kamek coursing with the strength of thousands of volts. It lasted only a few seconds but it was enough to finish him and the battle. Kamek lay unmoving, slightly singed in parts, his spectacles askew. Still invisible, Luigi dashed away from the scene and out of Toadwood Forest, still with the Boo inside him.

* * *

The heavily perfumed air in the Royal Chambers was making Boomerang, Captain of the Guard and Royal Battalion woozy and dull. He leant on his spear and yawned widely. This was a mistake as he inhaled some of the sickly substance and began hacking and coughing. King Boo seemed not to notice this or the perfume; he said that it helped him concentrate on his crystal-gazing. He now peered into the Crystal Ball and rubbed away the fog that was inhibiting its power. The King watched the battle intently with some admiration for the green plumber. He was surprised when he saw his minion possess Luigi but glad that he was showing initiative. After all, he wanted Luigi alive for now. The King leant back from the Crystal Ball and grinned his most characteristic grin.

"It seems that it is going well so far," he cackled to his captain. "Our young friend is making progress, let us hope that he will make it to Toad Town with Luigi here."

"Indeed, sire," said Boomerang sleepily.

"The plan is going smoothly; I do so hope I will have the chance to watch the rest of this." King Boo cackled madly in the traditional way that so many villains have mastered. Boomerang looked up and joined in with the laughing.

It seemed the best thing to do at the time.


	3. On Arriving in Toad Town

**Chapter 3: On Arriving in Toad Town**

Luigi carried on dashing through the woods determined to put as much distance between his would-be captors as possible. He vaguely realised that he was still invisible when he bounded over a slow-running river and noticed that he was lacking a reflection. Once or twice, Luigi took a detour, trying to find the easiest route in the forest possible; he didn't think that he would be able to cope with the tougher terrain at the moment. Luigi gritted his teeth, feeling the pains of the wound creep upon him again but if he stopped now… well… he was in no condition to retaliate again.

Now the sun beat down on the back of his neck as he slowed down to a plodding pace and some of the creatures of the forest could be heard again as the weather improved. He picked his way across the stepping stones of another river, wondering whether he could drink anything while invisible. If he could walk through vines, then surely water would also pass through his hands? It seemed not though as Luigi tentatively took a drink and finding that he was incredibly thirsty, he gulped down as much as he could and gave a sigh of relief, grateful for the fact that it was clean.

Luigi heard his stomach growl and was then distracted from the thought of escape by the thought of food. He plucked a Red Berry from a small bush for nourishment and felt all the better for it as it replenished some health. It didn't satiate his appetite much though and he couldn't remember the last time he had ate.

A couple of rogue Spiky Goombas stood a little way from him on the path looking particularly obnoxious. He had no wish to fight any more and in any case, the hammer head had almost fallen off its handle. Luigi carefully avoided them and continued on his way, quite forgetting that they of course could not see him. He attempted to screw the head back on but unfortunately, it fell off instead. He sighed and pocketed the weapon.

He felt horribly exhausted and much to his annoyance, he had not been properly prepared for the onslaught that Kamek that delivered against him. Luigi felt embarrassed that he had barely scraped through that battle especially as he and Mario were recently involved in the defeating of Fawful, a delusional megalomaniac who had plotted to take over the Mushroom Kingdom with the use of the Dark Star. Bowser had been involved too but he would never have managed to square up against the Beanbean villain alone. It must have knocked him more than he thought…

It would have annoyed Luigi even more if he had thought that Kamek had been improving in his mission to capture one of the Mario Bros. Oh, sure, he hadn't succeeded yet but you never knew; he always had a few tricks up his sleeve. More than a few tricks in fact. Luigi wondered whether he would tell Mario about this; Mario always wanted to know whether the Koopa Troop had been knocking about and yet Luigi felt that Mario would just worry about him. Mind you, Luigi looked like a state at the moment; Mario would only need to glance at him to know that something was up.

Luigi heard a sharp sound from behind and stopped dead in his tracks; fearfully looking behind him and wondered whether Kamek and the Koopatrols had indeed caught up with him. They were prepared to use everything in their arsenal in capture him and take him back to Bowser's Castle, hoping that this would please their lord. They were certainly dedicated.

He wasn't going to dwell over the possible reasons why Bowser wanted him because the only logical thing that he could come up with was that it would bring Mario to that dreaded castle and there Bowser would have an excellent tool to bargain with and to use threats against should Mario not comply with the demands. Just when would Bowser give up with his constant plotting? But that was a futile question; that would be like asking the earth to stop turning.

A Wiggler wandered out from behind the trees, carrying a basket full of delicious foods and Luigi felt relief as there was no way that the Wiggler could detect his presence here. This one had its flower in full bloom and it was whistling a little tune to itself; this one was in a very good mood; you did not want to see a Wiggler in a bad mood.

Luigi stared at the contents of the basket, feeling very much famished; breakfast had been ages ago; those berries were hardly going to sustain him for long. But it wasn't as if he could steal those items and in any case, Wigglers dealt very severely with thieves for they provided much of the Mushroom Kingdom its food thanks to their excellent farming skills. Luigi could smell the tantalising foodstuffs wafting towards his direction and stood on the spot, wondering whether he should take something after all.

Before he could come to a decision though, he yelped although his voice went unheard as somebody walked straight through him; another Wiggler in fact who was meeting up with its companion. That was surely one of the weirdest feelings ever: was this something that Boos felt when they went through people and objects? The Wigglers greeted each other and kissed each other on the snout. Luigi took this as his cue to leave feeling that he was intruding on something private; he had been hanging about too long now anyway.

He was almost out of the forest now and Luigi was glad of this; this forest creeped him out especially as it reminded him of an adventure that he and his brother had been on little more than a year ago, the signs of which had remained here. Luigi gazed upon the Toad images that the Boo had noticed earlier and whispered some words of condolence even though he knew that they would not be able to hear them. What a terrible fate that they had suffered all for the sake of extracting power for the spaceships of the extra-terrestials; the Shroobs. How much fuel did that Mother Ship have to take? Did that use a different source or did it require the vim of many Toads? Thinking about it now, Luigi hoped that those ships had been very fuel-efficient and scampered away from those dark reminders.

Also in the midst of his travels, he came across some corroding metal within one of the clearings; the mark of its owner was still upon it. An abandoned Shroob-ship. He thought that all of these had vanished by now or had been dismantled by the inhabitants of this forest at the very least. At least getting rid of the poison mushrooms that the Shroobs had left behind had been easy to clear away; his younger self had saw to that. Luigi grinned at the thought of his memory and quickened his pace again to a speed that few would have been able to keep up with.

Luigi finally reached the edge of the Toadwood Forest and panted for breath, his face gleaming with the exertion of the escape. There was no way that Kamek and his cronies would be able to catch up to him now. Luigi squeezed the water from his hat and shook his wet head. His sides were painfully throbbing even as he tried to ignore them. He leant against a tree and promptly fell through it. Wincing slightly, he remembered that that Boo who had also been in the forest was still sharing his body. It had helped save him… that was an unusual gesture for a Boo to make. It had also looked petrified too… that was even more unusual. Luigi sat up and made himself comfortable, desperate for a rest. He was safe now and he had the Boo to thank for it.

Feeling slightly foolish, he whispered to the Boo, "Alright… you can come out now…"

Luigi acknowledged the strange sensation of the Boo leaving his body and shivered slightly. Booigi peered around the area before turning around and noticing Luigi. He gave a little yelp of surprise and prepared to flee as was his natural reaction when faced with someone he was in awe of or fear of. He was slightly held back by the force that wanted him to stay with his hero.

"Wait!" Luigi cried.

Booigi stopped in his tracks and gazed at Luigi. Apart from the gentle breeze that whirled about their person and the few drops of rain, there was a moment of silence as the pair looked at one another, not being able to think of anything to say. After all, it wasn't every day that you saved another person's life. Booigi noticed that past Luigi stood Toad Town in all of its morning glory, beautifully lit by the golden sun. He wondered what sort of lives they led there. He gave Luigi a sheepish apologetic grin to which Luigi returned. This seemed to break the ice.

"Umm… hi."

"Hello."

"Hey… umm… I-I want to thank you for helping me back there…"

"So you're definitely Luigi then? I've always wanted to meet you!" Booigi said at the same time.

"I might have been done for… Huh? You what?"

"Oh, right, you-you're welcome."

A shorter period of awkwardness followed as Luigi and Booigi tried to sort out what they were saying. Luigi turned bright pink hearing that Booigi, that somebody that had actually wanted to meet him. Booigi also became flustered with Luigi thanking him for saving his life_. _

_I mean,_ he thought. I _only helped out a bit. He would have probably been fine anyway. _It was also the first time that anybody had thanked him for anything. Well, maybe his family had for some reason but he was rather young at the time of their…

"Named after me, eh?" Luigi grinned thankfully driving Booigi out of his dark reverie. "Well I'm honoured." Luigi rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment again. "So how come you are here?"

Booigi quickly explained his interests in humans that were passed onto him from his parents. He was curious about all sorts of things and was always looking to expand his knowledge. He told Luigi that he had been allowed to go out into the world by himself and was very happy about it. He thought, however, that it was best not to mention King Boo just yet. He knew that Luigi had fought against the ghostly king some months ago so he didn't want to bring the subject up.

"So what were you doing in the forest?" he asked instead.

"I was helping the Professor last night with some weird experiment," Luigi explained. "Mario said that it would probably be dangerous but this is Professor E. Gadd we are talking about. He does dangerous and stupid things. He's _known_ for danger." Luigi rolled his eyes. "Apparently, he wanted me to do the job because I'm young, fit and I've had experiences with ghosts." Luigi could not quite suppress a shiver.

"Anyway, it gave him the excuse not to do it himself; he is getting old after all but the Professor has invented another machine named the 'Immateriumium 3000'… yeah, I know that's a pretty weird name," he said seeing the Boo's puzzled expression. "It's to help him with his ghost studies. Basically, it is to view ghosts in the 'Otherworld', ones that have left this world. Why do they leave this world and enter that one? Do all ghosts exist in some form or another in that world? Can living beings enter that world? That's the extent of his research anyway. He's always pushing the boundaries of ghost research and it just makes me think that he'll come back as a ghost just so that he can keep researching this sort of stuff."

Booigi picked up the reference to the Otherworld and wondered whether he would be able to go there. He had always wondered whether his parents and sister had rematerialized in that world after leaving this one. Would he be able to enter that place and find out? But then… could you only go there when you died? If so, how did they know about this place?

"How did you get there? How on earth was it found? I mean, you're obviously a living person, I thought living people couldn't go there…"

"Beats me. The Professor opened up a portal in the space-time continuum and sent me through it. It was a really weird place…" he said thoughtfully. "It was like… how can I describe it? Subspace. Have you ever heard of Subspace?" Booigi shook his head. "Well, in normal space, the quickest path that you can travel through in 3-D space that is between two places, let's call them A and B, are found in the following way. First, you have to look at all the paths in 4-D space-time between A and B, and find the space-time path that takes the quickest time to traverse across. Because of relativity, that's erm… to do with space-time, there is no such thing as universal time so I'll let the time be measured with something like a clock whose motion matches the space-time path. I'll call this space-time path "P". Then the quickest path in space is simply the path in space traced by path P.

"The Professor has done some research on it and apparently, ghosts are not as subject to it as we are. Apparently, that is one place where you can find the ghosts. I know, complicated isn't it? It took me ages to get it myself. But in any case, I only saw a few ghosts. I couldn't stay in there long, it felt draining, like I was forgetting who I was, losing myself to this Subspace…" Luigi shook his head and gazed at the small Boo. "There are some things that are not meant to be meddled with. It isn't really a place for us to travel to. And once you establish yourself in that world, you can't come back to this one."

Luigi stared upwards while Booigi stared at the ground. He hadn't thought about being able to bring them back anyway, but it was definite now. He needed proper closure; he had never felt that he would be able to see them again anyway. Luigi gave him a kindly smile.

"I guess you've lost family too, eh?" said Luigi quietly. "I can tell by the look on your face." Booigi looked up and nodded, heartened by the fact that he wasn't alone.

"Me and my brother Mario weren't even a year old when we lost our family. Apparently, there was a great fire that ripped through the palace at the time and they died saving us. We don't how the fire was caused but I can make some pretty good guesses. Anyway, all we have now is each other…" Luigi trailed off and stared at Booigi. "I guess we have a lot in common, eh Booigi?"

"Yeah… I guess we have." Booigi felt quite happy with this thought.

Luigi looked towards Toad Town and said to Booigi: "I'm going to head back home now. Do… do you want to come with me?"

Booigi's eyes lit up with pleasure. "Oh, yes please! That would be great!"

So they set off down the grassy hill and onto the flats that would lead them to Luigi's hometown. Booigi followed the green plumber closely like an affectionate puppy, having quite forgotten that it was King Boo who had allowed him to go on this expedition in the first place. The sun was shining, he could sense the happy emotions of his new friend, he hadn't been attacked by anything ferocious, and it looked as if everything was going to be alright…

Of course, being the rather pessimistic soul that Booigi was, something bad would probably crop up.

* * *

"You know, it is rather intriguing as to how that young Booigi here has made friends with our foe so quickly. One would think that he rather looked up to him. I do hope this trend will not occur in the rest of our fellow Boos."

"Indeed?" said Boomerang who was stood by the side of King Boo by the Crystal Ball.

"Indeed. It is one thing to admire the Mario Brothers for their skill and indeed luck but to like them is another. Booigi's mind was turned by his parents when he was young you know."

"Oh?"

"They had frivolous ideas about co-existence with the humans and other mortals, how we should learn from them, how we should get along with them." He sighed. "It is rather depressing to think of it. For the time being, I shall greatly amuse myself with some rerun shows of 'Super Ultra Goomba Bros.' It is rather delightful you know: you should watch it, Captain."

"I'll… get round to it when possible, my Lord." Boomerang did not want to admit to his king that his favourite show was actually 'The Many Love Affairs of Koopok the Koopa.' It was a wonderful romantic comedy. He often cried while watching it and his wife jovially laughed at him for being so soppy. He said to his corporals that his red eyes were a result of exertions through training. Well, it was a good enough excuse for him. The Boos did not often question their superior's thoughts and Boomerang didn't think that he would be able to live it down if his secret got out.

"Although… I do not want to miss anything interesting during the course of this little adventure. I think I will put the Crystal Ball on record."

"If you will excuse me, my Lord, I must get back to my men…"

"Of course… of course…"

Captain Boomerang quickly left the room without turning around and silently closed the door behind him, blocking out the sounds of his boss's manic laughter.

* * *

Booigi was concerned for Luigi who was wincing with every step. The wound that had temporarily vanished during the period of invisibility had reappeared again more vividly than before. It was dark and it steadily grew darker. Luigi's face was tight and pale and his breath was drawing thin.

"How did you get that?" Booigi asked, pointing at the injury in Luigi's side.

"I was ambushed shortly after leaving the Professor's place by those Koopatrols that you saw." He gave a slight growl. "There were a few more of them but I managed to get the better of those guys. There were also some Spear Guys there; I didn't expect them because they usually reside in places like Yoshi's Island. I wasn't prepared. They had blow pipes and they are good at aiming at their targets." He clasped at it with one hand whilst rummaging through his pockets with the other.

"Damn. I'm sure stocked up on them before…"

"On what?" Booigi asked.

"Refreshing herbs," Luigi replied. "They cure you of burns, confusion and poison… usually. There are probably some poisons that they won't be able to cure. Bean Fever for example, you have to get crabbie grass for that one otherwise you turn into a bean in three days time…"

This did not have the reaction that Luigi somewhat expected. Booigi broke into peals of laughter and collapsed onto the ground, clutching himself. He imagined people suddenly turning into beans; who knew that such a thing could happen? He needed to release his anguish somehow. Imagination, by the way, was not usually encouraged back at the Boo Mansion either. Luigi frowned.

"I'm serious! That's what happens you know. Mario caught it while we were in the Beanbean Kingdom and I had to get some for him. I can't remember where, I can't remember how either." This was because a certain 'treatment' that Luigi underwent to cure his nerves of the supposed monster in Guffawha Ruins. Peach had found it quite amusing while he was in this state. Really though, despite the flying rumours, it wasn't as bad as the locals were making out. Luigi tried to focus on the memory but it was... foggy. Barely there. He put it aside for the time being; it probably wasn't all that important anyway.

"It must be interesting though going around to all of these places," Booigi remarked.

"Mario travels more than me, he doesn't want me to get hurt but honestly, I can take care of myself. I am an adult after all. He worries too much about me really just because I'm younger than he is. That reminds me, I haven't been to the Waffle Kingdom in ages…"

"Hmm, I can see why."

"What? This? Nah, I've had worse than this, Booigi. Much worse. I guess it is all part and parcel of the whole adventuring thing."

"I'd like to go on an adventure. I bet it would be really interesting…" Booigi mused.

"Well, you never know," said Luigi lightly. "What with… everything that has happened so far, you might well find… yourself in the midst of an adventure. And then you'll… probably wonder why on earth you went on… one in the first place. But you… learn stuff I'll give you that. And it is... thrilling really." Luigi took a deep breath and strode onwards.

Luigi and Booigi soon approached the bridge that directly led into Toad Town. Ahead of it was the gatehouse guarded by one gently sleeping Toad. He gave a snort. Luigi shook his head; no wonder Bowser managed to cruise his way to the castle so many times. As if he and his brother hadn't enough difficulties to deal with.

"Here we... are then, Booigi. Wel…come… to…"

"Luigi?"

Luigi began hyperventilating, his body shook violently. He suddenly collapsed onto the stone bridge beneath him. The Boo rushed over to him and felt that Luigi was stone cold to the touch. The poison had spread through much of his body without him realising it. Booigi panicked for several seconds, looking at Luigi's quivering body then to Toad Town then back to Luigi's body again and panicked some more. Luigi slipped into unconsciousness. And it was all going so well too…

Booigi noticed the sleeping guard.

"Hey!" he cried. "Hey! HEY!"

* * *

"Oh dear, and it was going so well too."

King Boo stared intently at the Crystal Ball. A nearly empty box of popcorn stood by its side as he entertained himself with the show, the drama that was unfurling before him. He took a thoughtful sip from his cool drink.

"I do hope that this won't be too serious," he said to himself in a manner that some may have confused for concern. "We wouldn't want anything bad to happen to him now would we? Well, not yet anyway…"


	4. In Doubt?

**Chapter 4: In Doubt?**

Boomerang waited until he was some distance away from the Crystal Ball chamber then he began to whistle tunelessly as he wandered down the draughty corridors, happier now he was out of the presence of his Highness. _Of course,_ he thought hurriedly to himself just in case **He** was listening in. _I have nothing bad to say about his kingliness but the way he acts could... disturb one sometimes. Including me._

Boomerang had been in the service of King Boo for nearly two decades through the bad times and most certainly the good. He had quickly risen through the ranks from Lance-Corporal to Captain of the Royal Battalion. Although dangerous, the job was not without its compensations. For example, he received a pay-packet of 20,000 coins a month, his own personal quarters in the Mansion cleaned daily by one of the Boo maids plus free use of the King's guest Jacuzzis which were undoubtedly the finest within the kingdom. Well... maybe the Toadstool Princess's were better but spreading rumours that could lead to death by torture was not in his job description. Boomerang did not get to where he was by inexplicably not honing all his senses including the danger receptors.

That was the thing though. Obviously he expected danger whilst going into combat against rebellious Boo forces or clans who simply did not understand that this particular fellow here was _king. _Sometimes, the Royal Battalion attacked people because some places obviously needed attacking like those little communities that weren't stumping the taxes in return for **'you will not be attacked today, have a nice day.'** At heart though, Boomerang wasn't a bad Boo. He had a wife and child to support and he only really used violence when he really needed it such as when the Battalion were being overwhelmed by malevolent forces of various kinds.

Boomerang preferred to organise negotiation talks involving diplomats from the different territories and possibly cucumber sandwiches. You couldn't go wrong with cucumber sandwiches. It was probably harder; harder than lining up a load of soldiers, making sure they were holding their weapons the right way and screaming "CHAAARRRRRRRRGE!" But negotiating was a lot more _peaceful. _Rows only ensued when one diplomat spilt tea over another diplomat or if a group happened to be arguing over the results of an international football game at the time. (Boomerang shuddered; the matches could often be more violent than actual war; Bob-Bombs, giant shells and all of that. But then again, nobody was actually killed. Well, maybe.)

Boomerang happened to be very good at negotiating peace talks and signing very long rolls of paper. He had also learned that diplomacy was like a better class of lying, albeit, one that was harder for the common person to understand. Boomerang had plenty of practises with the upper-class lying; he dealt with that everyday back at the Mansion, especially when talking to King Boo. He had managed not to turn a rosy pink colour anymore when doing this.

Boomerang sighed heavily. The only reason he took up the job in the first place because it had seemed all so exciting for a young, wild Boo at the time. Well, he had come to the conclusion in later life that there was such a thing as too much excitement.

As Boomerang pondered over his thoughts, he also remembered the two humans that his Highness constantly talked about and was after so many times. He had tried so many times to defeat them and had failed. The mood he was in after the last defeat was simply unbearable to be with. It was like an anger that seeped under locked doors and made Boos see red as soon as they tasted that anger.

_"LUIGI!" _he kept growling. _"Curse that foolish Mario Brother!" _It was common knowledge that King Boo simply loathed the Mario Brothers because time and time again, they had foiled his plots of complete control over the Mushroom Kingdom.

What was a curious thought however was that the King had always preferred to battle with them on his own or with just a single Battalion; it was odd that the full Army had never been unleashed on the unstoppable pair. The pride of King Boo was almost unbreakable though. Having questioned the King's intentions once, King Boo replied that he assumed the Army would be too over enthusiastic in bringing them down, especially as they would be more useful alive than dead. (Boomerang wasn't entirely sure whether it was Mario and Luigi being referenced to or the Army.) Part of him also felt that you wouldn't need a full army to vanquish them. How much could two humans take after all? King Boo could regenerate after all, they, on the other hand could not.

However, as Boomerang knew from their last little conversation, it seemed that his Highness had finally learned his lesson. No more chances: he was to hit them with all that they had got. If they won't join us, beat them. It would have been better with them, but alas, we would have to do without.

_Could you really kill a ghost?_ Captain Boomerang thought. And even if you could, would the Mario Brothers be the ones to do that? King Boo and that little Boo who had gone off on some merry trip for his Highness, what was he called now...? Oh, yes, Booigi. They weren't the only ones who had done research on the human pair.

Boomerang knew that they weren't mercenaries: it wouldn't have been in their hearts to kill, _really_ kill. Evil killed without feeling or took joy in the killing; they did neither. What they did was defeat their enemies and yes, perhaps many of their enemies did die but considering that much of the evil they fought against had the potential to destroy a whole world, what else could be done? They deserved nothing less than praise at the very least.

Creatures like that couldn't be allowed to survive. Mario and Luigi constantly risked their lives to save those that they knew nothing about, those that even plotted to kill them. They weren't your average mortals. And humans were rare. These two were practically unique.

Was it right to follow one who wished to... dispose of these two saviours? King Boo thought that he was the best candidate for ruling the Mushroom Kingdom, no... the whole world. He probably wasn't the only one to think that. Boomerang had heard of the giant Koopa King who plotted in the same mind frame as the Booish liege. Was it right to let him do that?

And yet... Boomerang was afraid. He was afraid of King Boo and his murderous mind. Anything could happen with him. And he had seen the deaths of innocents before. That fateful night still tortured him at three o'clock in the morning. He did not want to be added to that list.

Boomerang reached the ancient, wooden doors that lead to the Mansion's extensive gardens. Before he could open them himself however, they were blown wide open by a sudden gush of cold wind. He stepped out and shivered as a few icy droplets of rain bounced off his helmet. The cracked branches of the old, gnarled trees moved shiftily in the wind, casting dark shadows against the stone walls that Boomerang stood in front of. Boomerang shook himself and muttered to himself to forget the whole situation and concentrate on the job that was to hand. He was not paid to question but he felt, at times, that he wasn't being paid enough.

As he entered the first of the Training Grounds, Boomerang cocked his helmet and adopted a severe expression that was expected of him. He gazed at some fresh recruits who were busy doing some intense exercises but were most unfortunately being drilled by Sergeant Kung Boo, the toughest and most certainly loudest sergeant there ever was.

"Feel the wrath of Kung Boo, you pathetic pansies you! His Royal Highness would be _absolutely_ _ashamed_ if he so much as caught a glimpse of you weaklin's! So I am here to MAKE YOU FEEL SOME WRATH!"

"Aww, man," whispered a sully private. "He's gonna start with that whole glory speech again-"

"DID I HEAR ANY TALKIN' FROM YOU JUST THEN PRIVATE BOOTS? OH, ISN'T THAT AMAZIN' THAT I DIDN'T! I MUST HAVE HAD SOME EARWAX STUCK IN MY EAR JUST THEN!"

"Me? I never have time to talk, man!" The private next to him ever so slowly inched away from him thinking that he must have had turnips for brains. He prayed that the sergeant wouldn't turn onto him next.

"DID I JUST HEAR ANY ARGUIN' FROM YOU THEN, PRIVATE? I MUSTN'T OF! IF YOU WANNA SAY SOMETHIN' TO ME, **COME OUT HERE AN' SAY IT!"**

Ah. Business as usual. It felt so good to be back in normal circumstances. Anyone who needed a reality check just needed to have a little chat with Kung Boo. They didn't even need that. Boomerang stepped before the sergeant who ripped off a razor-sharp salute. Private Boots wiped his brow with relief before being slapped by another Boo for acting so stupidly just then.

"I see you're working just as hard as ever, sergeant. Remind me which division this was again?"

"Division Ironheads, sah! Gettin' them all properly trained, sah!"

"And you are doing that so masterfully, sergeant."

Sergeant Kung Boo creased his little red eyes at the trembling group behind him. They breathed heavily, pink with exertion but they all pulled off a shaky salute.

"DID I TELL YOU STOP THEM EXERCISES? OH? THAT'S AMAZIN'! YOU'RE ALL GOIN' LIKE THE CLAPPERS YOU ARE! NOW ARE WE ALL GOIN' TO BE PROPER SOLDIERS? EH?"

"Yes, sah!" they chorused.

Kung Boo looked proud for a moment. "That's what I like to hear," he mumbled. He turned back to Captain Boomerang who was calmly observing some more hard-working divisions. _Ah,_ he thought. _He's a good cap'n. Don't know what I'd do without him._

"Everything up to standard, sah?"

"Hmm?" Boomerang seemed to have a faraway look in his eyes. "Oh, yes. Very much so, Sergeant Kung Boo. I shall now be making close inspections of the rest of the troops and you know what I like to see."

"For them to be all properly trained, sah! The boys won't let you down, sah!"

"Very well, then. I leave them in your capable hands, sergeant."

Kung Boo nodded and looked at the Captain with awe but then he noticed that he seemed rather tired, perhaps stressed. He hoped that everything was alright; he would help out his Captain in any possible whatever the problem was.

"Everything alright, sah?" asked Kung Boo.

Boomerang sighed, his gaze still on the Booish troops. "Mostly everything is alright, sergeant. I'm just a little concerned at the moment about various things but mainly about our liege."

Kung Boo blanched. All problems he would help out with except that one.

"I'm sure everything will turn out OK, sah."

"Yes, perhaps so, I certainly hope so. But anyway, I shall now get on with my work and let you get on with yours."

The salute that Kung Boo pulled off was the sort of salute that could knock a 20-foot stone statue out. "YES, SAH!"

After carefully wiping his face from spittle and leaving the poor privates to be bullied by their meticulous sergeant, Boomerang meandered past the areas where all the other young Boos were practising, some with weapons, others with special combat techniques performable only by Boos. He nodded his approval to the other sergeants. They looked at him with an over-bearing sense of awe.

Boomerang reached the outskirts of the Mansion grounds and glanced back at them all.

_You'll wonder why you ever started this,_ he whispered in his mind.

Boomerang looked at the overcast skies and saw the warm sun trying to peek out from behind one of the clouds. Because of the Mansion's atmosphere, it wouldn't get out much further. Still, it was nice to see the light even if only occasionally. He decided now would be a good time to go home and have a couple of glasses of wine with the wife. Only the finest and the wine was rather fine too.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Magikoopa Kamek was nervously approaching the giant iron doors that heralded the throne room. If he walked any slower, he would have started to go backwards. Kamek took his spectacles off and occasionally polished them with the sleeve of his robe just so that he had something to do with his hands. He tried to assign himself to his fate and failed. Nothing was going to get him out of this one unless the Mario Bros. voluntarily wandered into the castle and handed themselves over to Bowser. Ha, yes, that would be the day. The Koopatrols standing guard in front of the door pitied him and said to themselves: _He's an old guy. Let him take his time._

As the walk of eternity continued over the stretch of woollen red carpet, Kamek wondered why the plan had failed. Well, obviously the Koopatrols he used must have been incompetent but as far as he knew, at least one of the Mario Bros. had not learned how to turn himself invisible yet. So how did that happen? When he had scanned the green plumber's whereabouts, he was quite certain that he had also detected another body there, the reason why Luigi had become invisible and had managed to use it to his advantage. It looked like a Boo, it felt like a Boo but was it actually a Boo? Of course it was!

But... how come there was a Boo there in the first place? It may have been one of the loners in Toadwood Forest but Kamek immediately dismissed this thought. They wouldn't help a human; there was no chance of a partnership there, hell, they barely got on with each other. So it was very likely that the Boo came from the community close by the woods. King Boo was residing in the dilapidated mansion not too far away from Bowser's Castle, Kamek knew that. So that Boo must have been a lackey.

Why would his Royal Booishness send a minor in order to assist the very person that he hated most of all? kamek deeply pondered this one. There had to be some motive to it, there _had_ to be. King Boo had sworn revenge on Luigi once; he would have had some plan to get at him, in the most cruel and delicious way possible.

_So,_ Kamek concluded_, it wasn't my fault after all! The Spear Guys managed to poison him after all, the Koopatrols battled him quite efficiently and so did I of course. It was just that our friend Luigi here was saved by a nervous-looking Boo with some luck thrown in. And he fought back as well when he really could have done us a huge favour and be apprehended quickly. Yes, that's it._ Kamek smiled triumphantly and metaphorically gave himself a pat on the back. Then he chewed the brim of his hat through fear.

He took a deep breath and when they saw that he was ready, the Koopatrol Guards pulled back the doors and one of them shouted with respectful tones, "Kamek to see you, Lord Bowser!"

They kindly shoved Kamek into the chamber and slammed the doors shut before he had the chance to change his mind. He heard of them whisper, "Phew, that was a close one." Kamek adjusted his blue, pointy hat and attempted to stroll down the long corridor full of confidence and fear-free.

He failed at this too.

At the moment, Bowser wasn't paying him much attention as the platter in front of him stuffed with his favourite foods: steak, pork leg, beef roasts and other meaty products, was much more interesting. Kamek took this blessed minute to fully compose him. He mentally drafted the list of information he had to tell his Koopaness and on a side note, his will. Then, he suddenly noticed that Lord Bowser was fixing him with The Stare. The Stare that could topple mountains if he _really_ thought about it. Kamek wiped the sweat off his forehead and groaned. It had been one of those days.

"Well?" Bowser snapped. "What is it, Kamek? And don't tell me that anything has gone wrong."

Kamek saw his life flash before his eyes. It had a lot of Bowser in it.

"Your Grumpiness!" he squeaked. He coughed and started again. "Your Grumpiness," he said in a deeper, oilier voice. "I have received information that the Poison-trap technique was highly successful after we caught sight of him nearby the mad professor's laboratory. It should be taking place wonderfully now and of course, we have the only antidote, as your Majesty knows very well, of course. Umm... The Koopatrols managed to track him down after he oh-so-annoyingly escaped from the Spear Guys and they engaged him in a battle once I learnt of his whereabouts. I used my magic and potions of the greatest expertise to increase their chances of success in battle. And-"

"They failed," said Bowser flatly.

"I-I wasn't going to say that, my Lord."

"No, you wasn't," he growled. "You were going to dress it up with all these fancy-dancy little words that you only do to confuse me and try to lessen the pain for yourself. Face it, Kamek. If you were going to tell me that you and your team actually succeeded, and then you wouldn't have wasted your time in coming here as you were 15 minutes late-" He pointed to the spiky wall clock. "-And you would have also brought that Green 'Stache into the chamber saying, _'We did it, my Lord! We did it!'_ You wouldn't have needed a day long explanation in telling me that you did this and that. So... you failed, didn't you?" He smiled with all the evil he could muster. Kamek's lips quivered.

"Truly it was not my fault, my Lord!" he wailed. "He was stronger than we anticipated, stronger than ever! Maybe even stronger than Mario!"

"'Stronger than Mario?'" the Koopa King repeated. He looked at Kamek as if he had never heard of an idea so absurd. "GWAHAHAHA! I hardly think _that,_ Kamek!"

"I-I do not know, my Lord. You have not battled him for ages. But there is no doubt that he has grown in strength."

"Look, I'll decide whether Green 'Stache is a match for me or not! I bet that I could beat him with one claw tied behind my back!" Kamek wisely said nothing.

"Yeah, that guy is such a wuss he makes Private Goomp here look like me! And that's saying something!"

"Indeed, your Awesomeness!" agreed the private beside Bowser's impressive throne. "And clean my tail faster you," Bowser added. Kamek sighed.

"My Lord," said Kamek. "I believe that his newly-found strength comes from the fact that he almost lost his brother at that Boo Mansion. My spies tell me that because of these powerful emotions felt at the time, the belief that he really could save his brother because the alternative was too harsh to think about, they have manifested themselves into a new, more powerful inner strength. You cannot underestimate the power of the siblings you know."

"Don't you think I already know that, Kamek?" Bowser grumbled.

"Incidentally, Your Grumpiness, I detected a Boo helping out Lui-"

"WHAAAAATTTTTTT?" Bowser roared. "Those imbeciles? What on earth are they doing helping out that wuss?"

"I must correct you, my Lord that we only detected a single Boo and that we have yet to find out his intentions. It was because of this particular Boo that Luigi managed to escape."

"I'm not standing for this! If that King Boo thinks he can get away with hi-jacking my plot, he will pay! _Oh, he will pay! _He's too damn lazy to come up with his own evil scheme. I've got plans. I've had them plans for months!"

"And you are most superb at thinking up those plans," said Kamek smoothly.

"Yeah? Well I'm gonna come up with another awesome Bowser plan!" He stood up from his throne and kicked Private Goomp out of the way. He inspected the tail that the minion had been cleaning so vigorously. "Hmm... I suppose you've done a good job on that," he admitted grudgingly. "Now you can get to your quarters and do whatever it is that privates do."

"Yes, Lord! Hail, Bowser!" squeaked Private Goomp. He saluted and quickly fled the throne room.

"So what are you going to do, my Lord?" asked Kamek as he followed the great Koopa King into a secret backroom known only to highly-trusted minions and Bowser himself.

"Give me time to think. But whatever I come up with, it will be awesome!"

"Yes, Your Proudness."

Kamek entered the code to the secret room and breathed a small sigh of relief that he hadn't been torched or clawed or anything. It was so hard being Bowser's right-hand Magikoopa at times. Well, most of the time actually. But at least he would sleep easily tonight and so would the others.

* * *

Booigi frantically danced on the spot, wishing that the Mushroom Guard would hurry up and find Mario. Luigi lay on the ground shivering violently despite the blanket that he was wrapped up in, his breathing was varying between fast and slow. Somebody else had called an ambulance and now there was quite a gathering around the pair. They were unable to do anything more for Luigi nor tear their gaze away from the scene. Luigi flickered in and out of consciousness; Booigi watched him terrified.

_Why would they want to poison Luigi?_ he thought. _My first job and it's going horribly wrong. Great. _

The sounds of the panicking Toads were also distractions. The situation was bad, true, but at least he wasn't dead. Booigi thought that he had problems with confidence.

"Oh, no!" another cried. "He's dead! He's dead! But Luigi can't be dead! He can't be!"

"Has anyone told Mario? Has anyone told the Princess? What if Mario is next? We're all doomed!"

"What on earth is going here? And what is that Boo doing there? Has anyone called Mario?"

"We've already done that and the Princess is aware of the situation too!"

"He isn't dead..." Booigi whispered to himself. His voice could not be picked out in this tumultous crowd.

Booigi could now hear the wailing sirens in the distance and the sound of more thundering footsteps closer by. The people closed in even tighter making Booigi feel claustrophobic. He drew towards Luigi protectively.

"Hey!" he snapped. "Give him some room will you?"


	5. Chemical Chaos

**Chapter 5: Chemical Chaos**

After tending to the Crystal Ball lovingly and packing away all the rest of the fortune-telling paraphernalia, King Boo decided that the time was ripe to check upon how his plan was proceeding. He exited his dark room and carefully sealed it up with a little bit of Booish magic and a good old-fashioned key. The last muttered incantation made the oak door click resolutely shut. Smiling with satisfaction, King Boo tucked the key out of sight and then floated along torch-lit corridor in no particular hurry for he was confident that the plan was coming along rather nicely. If it wasn't, then he would be handing out some punishments and demerits. Nobody wanted to be caught in that situation and would rather eat their hats than suffer King Boo's punishments.

The flickering torches changed to electric lighting that was fixed to the ceiling. Although the lights were much more practical, his Majesty could not help but feel that some of the traditional brackets of flame were called for. King Boo descended the carpeted staircase and noticed his exuberant painting hanging above the entrance to the western chambers. He wore a magnificent, sparkling ruby crown and a velvet cloak draped around his shoulders, the ripples and folds of the cloak had been painted masterfully; the shadows and contours of the bejewelled crown were just outstanding. The background had been painted in dark, low-light colours as so to highlight the centrepiece in the foreground that was him. His white body shone like moonlight and his eyes gleamed like the sun. Many times had the smile been compared to the _Mona Toadette_ although the subject of this particular painting was obviously much more interesting.

He had been portrayed as a wise and wonderful monarch that he knew he was. Art was surely a sign of civilisation, never mind what the backwaters called their pieces of creativity. This was art.

King Boo certainly had an eye for fine art and this was very fine indeed. The acclaimed Boo artist had received many coins for his work that was completed in around two days. Such was the nervousness that he felt while painting, he collapsed twice and had to be revived by the Healer Boos. The artist went mad for two years even though the payment made him very wealthy.

However, Booigi had once remarked that the King looked like he had constipation and he was very, _very_ lucky that his Royal Highness had not been in his presence at the time but nevertheless, the little Boo had been forced to take up cleaning duties of the whole Mansion for a straight 24 hours with no food to eat and little water to drink. Then, he was flogged by the ever eager sergeant Kung Boo. They told him that he had got off lightly and that it was hurting them more than it was hurting him. Booigi was not inclined to agree to the second point but he had to admit that the first point was very true indeed...

The ceiling-high doors slowly creaked open at King Boo's touch much to his delight. King Boo was then nearly blasted backwards by the sounds that came out of the great hall that was referred to as the Laboratory. He picked himself up and dusted himself down before entering the mysterious place.

Enormous pewter cauldrons sat on stone pedestals dotted around the room and they were surrounded by assistants who were busier arguing with each other instead of actually getting on with some work. Hundreds of bright bulbs hung downwards from the unusually high ceiling. These were a little hazy due to the smoke that had floated their way up there. The tall, clear glass windows were wide open although despite the wind that had tried to sneak in, the cavernous room remained quite warm as a result of the many exothermic reactions occurring. King Boo coughed at the smell of these fumes and was glad that he did not work here.

The occasional multi-coloured flashes that erupted from the cauldrons seemed brighter than they really were but the skies outside the Mansion were perpetually gloomy, always looking ready to rain. They made the brightness brighter and the darkness darker, inevitably.

The long marble benches that formed the labyrinth-like status of the Laboratory groaned with the excessive amounts of peculiarly-shaped phials, blocks of rare metals, exotic-smelling potions, giant glass bottles that were taller than the assistants, washed-out beakers, alkali-filled tubes, bundles of herbs, salt tablets and many more pieces of apparatus. There were also countless sticky notes plastered onto every possible surface that wasn't taken up by ingredients or more piles of parchment. King Boo inspected some examples with mild interest and found that many of them had run like this:

_Al3+(aq) + 3OH-(aq) Al(OH)3(s)_

_C2H5OH + 302 2C0 + 3H20_

_2C2H6 + 7O2 4CO2 + 6H2O_

_(NH4)2SO4(aq)_

_Cu(s) Cu2+(aq)+2e-_

Also dotted about were sticky red Post-it notes covered in big, bold letters highlighting the importance of their message.

_Under no circumstances, must any personnel decant the Sarasaian hydroxide + BeanBeanium chloride into the sulphuric acid container unless the compounds have been sufficiently refined using electrolysis. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!_

King Boo remembered that that particular rule had been drafted up after one of their more adventurous assistants had clambered up to one of the cauldrons with the aforementioned substances and delivered the infamous line: "I wonder what will happen if I put these in..."

Suffice to say, half of the Mansion was blown up and the black stones of the building that had been flung up in the blast had transformed into little flying silver piglets on the way down. Some of the Boos turned bright pink with yellow spots and were chased by homicidal pieces of carpentry with teeth. Others were not so lucky.

As for the actual assistant who had formed the concoction, his last words didn't look too good on the epitaph. As can be gathered, he was never seen again. That was probably just as well for if the experiment didn't kill him then King Boo probably would have instead. He had never been so embarrassed as he was when he had to ask the Healer Toads when covered with a bright green and pink spot colouring to help clear up the mess had had been inadvertently formed.

King Boo meandered through the many benches and past the store cupboards that contained the strange and dangerous substances that the mad Boos worked with. Some senior scientists pondered over the amount of sodium hydroxide they required for Experiment No3 while a few assistants congregated around the bookshelves with their faces buried in some ancient textbooks. One of them absent-mindedly scribbled in the correct procedure on how to make Choco Island Bombs _safely. _(The key was not to sprinkle too many Super Choco Island beans into the solution.)

A little explosion took place near the back of the room sending up wafts of thick smoke and causing a high-pitched scream. Clearly, somebody had not read the instructions properly. The Booish assistants barely glanced at the victim as these things happened all the time and peered excitedly over the violent reaction between barium sulphate and the Joke's End metal carbonate whose name they couldn't quite remember.

King Boo stood sharply aside as this experiment frazzled and hissed and burnt and eventually went boom. The assistants coughed horribly, wiped cleaned their blackened faces and waved away the viscous smoke. Then they immediately pored over their calculations and decided that they had added one and a half moles of the Joke's End metal carbonate too many. And the concentration of the nitric acid was a little too potent in Experiment No16 as well.

_No wonder they're crackers,_ thought King Boo as he made his way towards the far end of the Laboratory. _Those chemicals and substances they use befuddle the brain and those complicated formulas are enough to drive you up the wall. _

Another group of the strange scientists cheered when one of their experiments did go according to plan. Also, the cauldron didn't blow up. King Boo glanced over and saw that they were in yet another world of their own. Very peculiar Boos they were.

The scientist whom King Boo was looking for heralded his own cauldron a little distance away from the others. Even without the things that were bubbling away inside it, it was a well-crafted piece of equipment especially with all the runes and little pictograms adorned all over it. And this was bigger still than all the other cauldrons that were around the Laboratory. A large chunk of King Boo's budget went to these fellows, mad as they were but he had to admit that they were hard-working and clever minions despite the frequent accidents that occurred. Besides, they were the key to eventual success.

The scientist barely noticed his Royal Majesty heading his way for his over-sized goggles had steamed up. He wore a gown that had once been white but had now been splashed by the many different and often corrosive acids and alkalis. It trailed a little on the floor behind him as he stoked the fire, humming a merry little tune as he did so. He donned a wispy beard that was previously large and bushy before he had took up chemistry.

If this Boo scientist had been a main character in a human horror story, he would have been the sort who kept cackling insanely, had eyes that popped out and an unhealthy interest in lightning conductors. As it were, he was not the product of a Boo gone insane but merely absent-minded. For now anyway.

King Boo patiently waited for the Boo scientist to finish his business before clearing his throat. The scientist gave a startled jump and dropped the stirrer he had been using. He fished it out from the bottom of the great cauldron. The King sighed as the gown's sleeve predictably caught fire.

_He might not be mad yet, _he thought, _but give him some time and he'll be there. A week at the very least. _The scientist calmly patted out the violet flames and pulled up a stool for his employer.

"Good day, your Majesty," he said while wiping his goggles clean. "How may I be of service?"

King Boo took his seat then leant back in his chair and smiled. "Good day to you also, Boohaha. I was merely wondering on whether to check up on the project I entrusted with you and so here I am. I trust it is running smoothly?"

"As smooth as it will ever get in these areas," he replied. Boohaha brought up a stool for himself and made his self comfortable.

"I must say, it was a rather interesting assignment you gave me, my Lord. I have never had the opportunity to work with counteracting the magical properties of the elemental powers before. This is why I love working here so much, it is that I can delve into the inner workings of so many wonderful things and they are often very enlightening experiences, goodness knows. I only wish I had a beholder of the elemental powers here before me to study intricately. Possibly the most fascinating phenomenon I have ever encountered except perhaps those of the Stars themselves. Incidentally my Lord, would you care for a refreshing cup of tea? I have just perfected my tea-making device this morning."

"Yes, please. Although I must confess as to that I am unsure as to why you built it. It really is not much trouble to boil a kettle and place some tea leaves in a cup."

"Ah, well, my Lord. This was just of those little brain-training exercises. Keeps my mind busy and well occupied. One cannot be messing about with potions and other strange substances all the time, you know. It is a little passion of mine, inventing things. And it uses up the spare screws and parts. What do you take, my Lord?"

"Milk and two sugars. I prefer the classic brew."

"Really?" said Boohaha as he switched the machine on. "I'd have thought you were partial to some of the herbal concoctions myself, especially the Royal Shroom tea. It is very beneficial, heals you up in a trice!"

He sprinkled some tea leaves into the funnel at the top and watched his creation buzz with activity. "Although saying that, I wouldn't say no to some of these foreign coffees either. Hoolumbians, Teeheespressos, Woohoo blends, they are all delightful... Ah. It appears that we achieved perfection."

He handed King Boo a steaming cup which he took cautiously. He daintily sipped at the brew and to his surprise, found that it wasn't all that bad.

"I assure you, Boohaha, if I could; I would gladly give you a beholder of the elemental powers and be all the happier for it. He has been able to command fire and electricity for some time and may well be hiding other elemental powers as well. He would most certainly satisfy your interests."

"Oh, wow!" Boohaha's eyes lit up with delight. "A being that can use more than one power? Oh, to be able to study him... Ah." He noticed the King's Expression. "We are talking about the man whom you wish to be brought down, yes?"

"Yes. That man. I am still trying to think of a way that can take him and allow me to control him. I know of his prowess; that foolish Koopa King does not. Therefore, I have a slight advantage." He pondered to himself for a quiet moment with a look that worried even the amiable Boohaha. "So how far exactly has it been completed?" he asked.

"We are rather close to completion now but it has been rather difficult, my Lord. I have had the whole Laboratory working on this predicament. We've had to conduct it in the basement and rig up the conductors to get the electrical power required. It is rather fortuitous that we get lightning strikes every ten minutes or so, yes? So I've had one half of the team do the actual testing of the potion, they are the ones who still need to work off their demerits, my Lord. The other half have been feverishly working away on getting the right combination of ingredients, getting it exactly right, my Lord. Day and night, my Lord. Day and night."

"What sort of ingredients?" King Boo asked carefully. He did not want his Mansion blowing up anytime soon.

"Quite a few Earth Quakes as the active ingredient. After all, the ground earths electricity, does it not? We have also needed some of those Crazee Dayzee leaves, those golden ones. They make the potion all the more powerful, my Lord. More expensive too. Hmm... what else did we use, boy?" He called out to a young assistant nearby.

"For that potion? Some Dry Dry Desert sand, I think for the conducting business. And err... some BeanBeanium carbonate as well. To gel it all together, probably."

"Right. Good stuff. And some slivers of Thwomp as well. That's to give the potion that durability but goodness, it certainly doesn't come cheap, my lord. Hard to mash up, too."

"So you're telling me that you are going to feed my soldiers a load of horrible, gritty stuff that they'll break their teeth on, correct? Well, at least they'll be marching on full stomachs if they're eating the potion equivalent of rock cakes." King Boo's eyes flashed. It made the young assistant run away.

"Ah, do not worry about that, my Lord for we had already thought of that. The potion also contains Choco Island _gloop_ solution- makes it runnier, some good old H2O- no, funnily enough, it does not counteract the effects of the Earth Quakes, my Lord and plenty of orange segments."

King Boo stayed silent as he thought this over. "_Gloop?_" he queried.

"It's a technical term, my Lord."

"... And what on earth are the orange segments for?"

"Well, I thought that if the soldiers are going to be drinking copious amounts of this brew, they may as well be having their intake of Vitamin C as well."

_He means well,_ King Boo thought. _He means well_.

"We have made several vats of the potion, my Lord now that I think we have perfected it. I'm positive that we have enough to see all of the soldiers through if need be. And I hope so because we have unfortunately ran out of the Golden Dayzee leaves. I must order some more... Would you like to see it, my Lord?"

"I think that I should."

"Wonderful!" said Boohaha happily. "If you would please step this way, sire..."

King Boo placed his empty cup on the bench and followed the Booish scientist away from the smells and smoke of the experiments and down a spiralling, stone staircase. They entered the dark, low chambers of the basement. At the far end of the room stood the grand vats full to the brim with the precious potion. A senior scientist tentatively filled a conical flask with it and quickly placed a cork stopper over the hole. Its appearance was bright orange, glowing slightly in the semi-darkness with few bubbles. The Boo passed the flask to a minor who scurried over to one of the electrical conductors. He was hooked up to the machine by two Boo assistants. He shuddered slightly as he drank the potion.

"The taste is somewhat lacking but it is better than anything they serve up at McGoomba's," Boohaha commented.

"Really?" said King Boo drily.

"Now observe what happens, my Lord. Somebody dim the lights!"

The lights were instantly turned down so that the only light source came from the potion vats and the tester Boo. King Boo heard loud, crackling sounds coming from above and saw little sparks flying off the electrical conductor before an almighty bolt of blue lightning zapped the unlucky tester. It lasted all of a second but the force was enough to kill somebody if not knocking them unconscious at the very least. But the tester was miraculously unharmed; not a volt had touched him. He smiled faintly at the King as he stepped out of the conductors.

"Capital!" exclaimed King Boo, bringing his hands together in a kind of slow-clap. "Excellent work, if I don't say so myself!" All the occupants of the room burst into applause at this high praise.

"Thank you very much, my Lord," said Boohaha gleefully. "It feels good to know that it has worked!"

"So that is the Electro-Defence potion," mused King Boo, thus giving the creation a name. "And the test appeared successful. You haven't told me about the Fire-Defence potion yet, Boohaha. How is that fairing?"

"Oh, that? We sorted that predicament out a while ago. It was rather simple compared to this one, my Lord. We mainly used Refreshing Herbs to protect against the burns, my Lord. And we have many batches of this potion, too." He produced a sample which was flickering like flame and was deep red in colour.

"Excellent. I am glad that this stage of the plan has been accomplished."

"If you don't mind me asking, my Lord," said Boohaha as he followed his liege up the stairs and back into the main Laboratory again. "Why do you require so much of both potions and the full Army when you are facing just the Mario Brothers?"

"They are not to be underestimated," said King Boo darkly. "And I may not only be expecting those two humans but also somebody else..." _That lummox will find out soon enough after all,_ he thought.

Boohaha looked troubled and was relieved that the King had no more further use of him. He was... difficult at times. Yes, very difficult indeed. King Boo was about to walk away when they both heard an ominous noise that came from nearby. Fearful, they turned around to see a bespectacled Boo wearing a puzzled yet excited expression. Suddenly, the whole Laboratory was silent.

"Hmm..." it murmured. "I wonder what will happen if I put this in..."

As one, King Boo, Boohaha and the rest of the scientists waved their hands frantically and screamed, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

Booigi looked up and thought that he heard a loud, exploding sort of sound then assumed that he had been mistaken. It had been several hours since Luigi had been rushed to A and E and they were still waiting for information. He sighed and munched on a biscuit that one of the kind staff had brought him. He glanced over to see what Mario was now doing. He was still sitting with his head in his hands saying nothing and unresponsive as he had been since they had arrived at the hospital. Once or twice, he stared at the clock before settling back in his stance. Booigi was sure that he had seen a tear drop onto Mario's lap.

A number of raucous people entered the waiting room, chatting animatedly and looking quite happy. Some carried cameras, others held notebooks, and one of them carried a large microphone. Booigi sensed trouble once again and searched for some sort of protection. Mario stood up and turned to the face the group with his eyes narrowed and fists clenched.

_Oh, no,_ thought Booigi. _Not again..._

"Oh, hi Mario!" exclaimed the Toadette reporter, feigning surprise. "We knew you'd be in here, waiting for news of your brother of course! News has been spreading like wildfire that your brother was poisoned. Poisoned! And he is now in a serious if not critical state. Now we obviously don't know who did the poisoning do we? It wasn't you by any chance was it?" she said suddenly glaring at the young Boo.

"What? Me? Of course not!" he said taken aback. Mario growled ever so slightly. Flickers of red flame appeared in his hand and began to burn brightly.

"So we were wondering if you knew and of course, what are your feelings on this terrible incident and whether we could see him and-"

"THIS IS THE SIXTH TIME YOU HAVE DAMN WELL COME ASKING ME ABOUT LUIGI AND I'M GETTING PRETTY FED UP ABOUT IT!" Mario roared. Booigi hid behind his magazine, trying to look inconspicuous. This clever ruse might have worked had he not been holding his magazine upside down. "NO, I DON'T KNOW WHO DID THE BLOODY POISONING! NO, YOU CAN'T SEE HIM! I HAVEN'T SEEN HIM YET! YES, I KNOW HE IS IN A CRITICAL STATE AND I THINK MY FEELINGS ARE QUITE OBVIOUS, DON'T YOU?"

"Keep the cameras rolling..." the reporter muttered out of the corner of her mouth. Booigi had soon noticed the red fireball pop into existence and shifted away for safety's sake.

"DO YOU SERIOUSLY THINK I'M GONNA LET YOU WALTZ RIGHT INTO THAT ROOM AND LET YOU TAKE STUPID PICTURES OF MY BROTHER ON WHAT MIGHT BE HIS DEATH-BED? MY BROTHER MAY WELL BE DYING IN THERE! _DYING!_ YOU SEEM TO KNOW THE ANSWERS! WHY DON'T YOU TELL ME WHY HE WAS POISONED? OH, I DON'T KNOW, MAYBE IT WAS BECAUSE SOMEBODY WANTED HIM DEAD?"

"Would Bowser be a possible culprit?" asked the reporter, not allowing feelings to get in the way of the press.

"OH, BOWSER! THAT'S UTTER GENIUS! HE DOESN'T SEEM TO LIKE US MUCH DOES HE? WELL, I WONDER WHY THAT IS, EH? BUT I'M SURE _YOU_ KNOW THAT! MAYBE BECAUSE WE KEEP FOILING HIS PLOTS AND KEEPING YOU LOT PROTECTED! BUT IF MY BROTHER _DIES, _WELL THEN, THAT'S NEWS FOR YOU ISN'T IT?"

"I think we have enough information now, thank you Mario," she said. "So we aren't getting any pictures, then?"

"No," said Mario coldly.

"Are you sure?"

"_Do I need to repeat my statement?"_ Booigi quivered from behind his shield but peered over now that Mario seemed to have quietened down.

"Very well, then." She sounded slightly disappointed at this as if Mario could have been more cooperative. "I suppose we'll just have to use an old picture. But if you change your mind, you know where we are. Good day to you." And so the reporting team filed out still looking happy as Mario muttered, "Yeah, in Hell."

Booigi cautiously sidled up to Mario and stared after the people. "Will... will they be coming back?" he whispered.

"I hope not. I really hope not. Otherwise I'll do something I'll regret. Huh, journalists..." The flame died in his hand.

Mario looked so dejected but Booigi didn't know what words of comfort he could offer. He could barely comfort himself. Instead, he gently patted Mario on the arm and said, "Maybe you should sit down?"

"Yeah... I'll do that..."

Mario dragged his feet to the nearest chair and flopped into it. He looked ready to burst into tears. As soon as he did so, the door opened and a Toadette Nurse stood in the doorway. Mario quickly wiped them away. He had a reputation to keep up after all.

"Mr Mario? Mr Booigi? Doctor Toadley says that he will see you now."


	6. Possession Poison

**Chapter 6: Possession Poison**

"_You won't do as I command you to? Why is this so? Submit."_

_Luigi bit back a scream as his entire body flared up with intense pain. The poison in his bloodstream rushed around him like a hot fire. He forced himself to look up at his captor; sitting there on his throne wearing a malevolent grin, merely pleasantly interested in the drama unfurling before him, with the torture that he inflicted. __Apart from that smirk, the rest of his body was hidden in the shadows. _

_Luigi fought against his chains again, getting no further to freedom than last time for the guards had made absolutely sure that this one was not to escape. Not this time. Luigi rested his back against the stone wall, catching his breath, while the chains rubbed against his skin and rattled against each other._

"_Have you had enough yet?" the voice asked. "It really is rather tiresome having to wait for so long for you to give up when most other normal beings would belong to me like __**that! **__Tenacious little fellow aren't you? A strong being to be sure. Oh, I can see you have the willpower but does your body have the strength?"_

_The internal fire struck Luigi again, this time with more force. He yelled out loud and writhed in agony but was ashamed at showing that glimpse of weakness. The figure before him smirked and sipped from a tall glass of wine, enjoying its piquant taste almost as much as observing his most favourite prisoner._

_Where am I? Luigi wondered. And how did I get here in the first place? _

_Luigi looked at his surroundings, feeling a flash of pain as he did so and saw few clues that told him where he was. Dim lights hung from the ceiling and made the darkness seem darker. A cold breeze blew in from the space where a window should have been and chilled Luigi to the bone. The storm outside grew greater; black clouds engulfing the sky. Icy drops of rain battered against the walls and every now and then, lightning struck the castle that he was in._

_Luigi took deep breaths and tried to conserve the little energy he had left. He tried to sense the whereabouts of his brother but so far, he felt nothing. He had felt nothing for the past hour. He felt no sign of his brother at all. His heart pounded with the frantic worry that he felt for his brother and the pain that he felt within himself. Had something happened to him? Had they got him also? Was he... please no... was he also being tortured in the next room? Maybe there had been an enchantment placed on this building so that they couldn't sense each other through their connection. That was possible; his captor was rather adept at magic after all. _

_He was coming wasn't he? If he had not captured?_

_He was... wasn't he?_

_... Maybe he wasn't coming at all. He had forgotten his little brother, forsaken him, and left him to the devilish whims of this creature. Why should he have to care? He had much more important things to do after all than think about his little brother, his weak, pathetic little brother. He had plenty of time on his hands; he could go with the princess now, romance her, and woo her. She was one of the most beautiful ladies in the world and therefore, way out of Luigi's league. Mario loved her and she loved him. She barely took notice of Luigi, that's what everybody else did. He could hear the scornful laughter at this moment, cruel laughter that rose when he tried to show off his skills. He was unimportant, a waste of space. Everybody knew that. Why should Mario, hero revered by all, need to look after this one? He didn't have a brother..._

"_NO!" Luigi cried angrily. "You know that's not true!"_

"_Are you sure?" whispered the voice. "Are you absolutely sure? It's true isn't it? You are ignored, forgotten about, left on your own..."_

_Luigi groaned feverishly as his captor continued his mental torture with the dark magic and the poison strengthening it, influencing Luigi's very thoughts, trying to taint his happy memories of just being there with his brother. He closed his eyes and muttered to himself, furiously trying to remove the lies placed in his mind. That darkness was creeping upon him again, he was sure that he had felt it before in some other place but what? This was hardly the time to query that though. In his heart, he carried on fighting even though that he was sick of it._

_"I will not give in..." he muttered. "I will not give in!"_

_His captor knew that direct contact would be much more effective, particularly in this situation. He had had to wait quite a while just to get to this stage in the... er... ah, proceedings. Why didn't he try that out earlier? His captor supposed that he had momentarily forgotten about that. He rose from his majestic throne and calmly wandered over to his shaking prisoner. Then he raised a hand with black sparks jumping off it, and raised it to Luigi's cold cheek._

_Luigi could do nothing to defend himself, mentally or physically. His eyes widely dilated and he pushed himself against the wall. Dark, terrible memories rose to the surface and tortured him once again. He could never truly get rid of these memories and now, they seemed worse than ever. The memories that he possessed were those that no-one else had ever had to experience. He was forced to relive each one over and over again._

"_No... I didn't do that... that wasn't my fault... stop it, stop it. Mario? Where are you, bro? Help me!"_

"_He's not coming, Luigi," said the voice softly. "He's never going to come for you..."_

_Luigi's cries of loss and agony grew louder as the darkness closed in around him. That same darkness..._

"_Leave me alone! Leave me alone! Where are you, bro? Mario! MARIO!"_

_The figure pulled his hand away and looked down at his prisoner trying to fight a losing battle. He had him now, he was in his grasp. He could sense it inside Luigi; he had succeeded. Luigi was his now. He nodded an order to the guards who cut off the chains causing Luigi to fall forwards to the floor. He lay there, barely moving as the dark memories slowly subsided. His captor pulled him around to face upwards. Luigi could no longer summon his strength to defend himself. _

_When his captor whispered, "Do you submit?" Luigi's will was laid out before him. The darkness rushed into Luigi. He never felt pain like it before..._

* * *

Luigi suddenly snapped back into consciousness, bolting upright and stifling a scream as his nightmare came to an abrupt halt. Light flooded his previously dark vision, bringing with it some sort of relief. His heart thudded violently, faster than was safe, and his body appeared to be coated in sweat. However, once he realised that he was in a safer place, that he was in good hands, he slowly calmed down.

He breathed heavily and patted himself down in an obligatory check to make sure that he was all there. His hands brushed against a set of thick bandages that were wrapped around his lower torso, concealing a large and still tender wound that tainted the clean, white dressing red. He suddenly remembered what had happened and silently cursed the Spear Guys and Kamek. Luigi touched it gingerly and experienced a sharp and burning pain like that he had felt not a long moment ago. His yelp of agony alerted a young Toadette Nurse to his presence.

"Oh, Mr Luigi!" she gasped. "I'm glad to see that you're awake at last. Everybody has been really worried about you. At one stage, it was touch and go and we thought for one terrible moment that we were going to lose you, but I knew you'd pull through."

"What? I nearly died?" Luigi yelped. "B-b-but, it was barely a scratch! I've been through a lot worse and survived. Loads of times! I couldn't have!" Luigi tried to scramble out of the bed to show that he was perfectly OK but the grimace told the nurse that he obviously wasn't OK.

"Please sit back, Mr Luigi," she said as she gently but firmly pushed Luigi back into his bed. "You're still recovering and Doctor Toadley has clearly stated that under no circumstances are you to leave this hospital or indeed, this room. Look, we had to mend three broken ribs and filter your blood of this nasty poison that was killing you. You were resuscitated four times, I think so I really wouldn't try to go against the doctor's orders. Besides, you wouldn't want to go out there anyway; the paparazzi are swarming all over the place. They've even tried to interview me about it!"

"Oh gods, not the paparazzi... they always write things way over the top and put people in a panic. They'll probably be spreading rumours that I'm dead or something. They haven't been in here, have they?"

"Certainly not! Although they have tried. Doctor Toadley is very much against them and has expressively forbidden them to come in here but the matron has had to clear them off a couple of times. Look, there's one at the door now. They should clear off!"

Luigi sighed as the young Toadette reporter peering through the door window suddenly spotted Luigi sitting up and glowering at her. She scurried off and quickly jotted important words down.

"It definitely seems that you are going to be big headline news tomorrow, Mr Luigi."

"Make that tonight," he said. "They broadcast the news at ten. Well, maybe if they can be bothered. Hah, if it was Mario, they would be showing it immediately, urgent news, kingdom-wide crisis, every one of them full of horrible fears; they practically worship the ground he walks on..."

"I thought you implied that you didn't want all this bad publicity, Mr Luigi?" the Toadette asked slyly as she began to unpack her medical equipment.

"Well, I don't... but I just wish people would treat me and my bro in the same way... like equals. We've saved the kingdom several times from utter and complete destruction and not always from Bowser and plenty of times; Mario has hogged the entire front page with barely a mention of me. I try to be as good as him; I really do but... if people barely show confidence in me, that they think I am nothing but a weakling? A coward? Then what is the point in trying?" Luigi stared at nothing in particular, looking forlorn.

"Well, by my way of thinking, at least you are getting some sort of attention, even if it is for the wrong reasons so you're not being completely ignored." She gave him a kind smile. "Don't be too harsh on yourself Mr Luigi, people do appreciate what you do, it's just that they don't know how to show that appreciation to you. I suppose you don't _quite_ match up to the traditional imagery of a hero. Anyway, you would only blush and mutter something like 'Don't mention it' which would somehow defeat the purpose of it all."

This managed to produce a grin from the moustachioed man. "Yeah, well, I suppose..."

"And don't forget that your brother cares about you, even if he sometimes... forgets about your feelings when people go up and congratulate him on his latest conquest. Family is very important after all and you two are the only heroes that we can truly depend on. Speaking of which, your brother's coming to visit you fairly shortly. He's been driving everyone else mad with worry. Apparently, there is also some little Boo tagging along with him too."

Luigi brightened up. "That'll be Booigi; he's a friend of mine. I bet he was the one who raised the alarm after I... er... collapsed. More likely than that guard because he's useless."

"What do we pay our taxes for?" she said, smiling. "Anyway, keep still and relax, I need to examine you."

Luigi lay back, feeling the slightest twinge of pain and attempted to relax as the Toadette Nurse checked him over. He flinched more than once when she touched his bare torso with her cold hands. It was one of life's little mysteries: why were doctors' hands always cold? She carefully checked the various monitors that Luigi was hooked up to and apparently satisfied, she started detaching him from them as it was unlikely that there would be any further lapses.

Luigi grimaced, however, when the Toadette Nurse removed the dressing from around him and found that his poisoned wound was still a bloody, battered purple colour that bled profusely despite the stitches put in place. He looked away and as the Toadette did her work, he tried to concentrate on the frightening dream that he had.

What had it all been about? Who was the person that had tortured him so? Where had he been? _What had actually happened? _Even now as Luigi tried to focus on the details, he could see them slipping away from his mind, to be forgotten about, as if they very much wanted to be forgotten about. _Think, Luigi, think!_ he said to himself as the dream he tried to remember vanished into the darkness.

Of course, he could have just dismissed it as a nightmare, just a bad dream that came as a result of his recent bad experiences. He had had nightmares before; it wasn't exactly unusual. Many a time had his brother had to soothe him in the night, always there to provide that warm comforting love. He had never seemed to mind even though Luigi was highly embarassed by it all.

So, it must have been just a dream. _But it had felt so real. _Luigi had been living on this world for too long to simply ignore them. Prophecies could be found in dreams. The Star Spirits sometimes watched dreams of the chosen ones. It had felt very real and very dark and cold...

The door swung open jerking Luigi out of his thoughts. His brother stood in the doorway (with Booigi peering out from behind him) for a quiet moment as he gazed at Luigi, taking in his condition, seeing with his own eyes that his brother was truly alive. Then he charged over and grabbed him tightly in a bear-hug. The nurse had to dive out of the way.

"Luigi!" he cried. "Oh, Luigi! You're OK, you're OK! I've been so worried about you; do you know how worried I've been about you? I wish you wouldn't do this to me. Thank goodness you're alright. You nearly died, you nearly _died_ bro and I wasn't around to look after you! What would I have done if you really did die? Oh, Luigi..."

"I know, Mario! I know! Now get off, you're strangling me!"

"I've been worried sick about you!" shouted Mario, ignoring him. "The paparazzi kept pestering me about you making me even more worried and I was thinking all this time what had happened to you and Booigi here told me about the battle and everything and oh! I am going to kill Kamek and those Spear Guys and Bowser and Bowser again and-"

"Mario, I really think you should let go of him now," said Booigi. "You're crushing him."

Mario grudgingly relinquished his grip and just in time too for Luigi had started to turn purple. He pulled up a chair next to Luigi as he massaged his throat. Booigi left them alone and wandered over to the other side of the room to examine the happy children's drawings that adorned the walls. He caught parts of their animated conversation:

"So... how are you feeling right now, Luigi?"

"I'm fine... Don't look at me like that, bro," said Luigi as Mario glowered at him. "No, really, I'm not too bad considering; it could have been a lot worse and- _Argh!_ Don't do that!"

"Do what?" he asked as he poked his brother again where it hurt.

"That!"

"See? I knew that would happen. And you wonder why I constantly worry about you?"

"Because you're a pain up the backside and a typical older brother? _Get off me!"_

"Brothers," sighed the Toadette nurse.

Booigi noticed movement from the corner of his vision and turned around, seeing an extravagant figure meander over to his patient. Booigi thought that he really looked rather peculiar and not at all like a normal-looking medic. Instead of the usual white coat, he donned a long, purple robe and a star-pocked turban that rested quite neatly on the top of his head. A piece of cloth hid his lower face and furthered the impression that he was a dizzy fortune-teller who had wandered in off the streets. Booigi supposed the gaze that the Toad held was meant to be one of mystic power but it could have also been interpreted as the look of someone who had had too much sauce to drink.

This was the famous or possibly infamous Doctor Toadley.

"Do I see my patient awake in front of me? I do. And am I most relieved? I am. And I notice that the patient is visited by his famous brother and a friend whose name I am quite unsure about. No! Don't tell me!" he snapped as Booigi opened his mouth to speak. "I shall discover it! Is it, by any chance, Shamboo?"

"No," said Booigi and folded his arms. (Or at least tried to: Boo arms are very short.)

"Of course not. Then it must be Rainboo!"

"Nope."

"Peekaboo? Boomeo? Bootler? Bootiful? Booigi?"

"Yeah, that's my name," said Booigi, rolling his eyes. Mario sniggered.

"See? I knew I'd get it in the end!" said Doctor Toadley. "Now what did I come here for? Ah, yes. I have come to check on your condition and also to deliver the results of a little test I had conducted."

"What test?" Luigi asked suspiciously. He unfortunately knew Doctor Toadley too well. "Did you consult your Crystal Ball or the Spirits? Did you use a little Toadley magic? Hell, what kind of test? Aren't you supposed to get permission off me first, anyway?"

"Were you not conscious when you were brought in here? You were," said Doctor Toadley severely. "And were you in the danger of dying? You were. We cannot truly filter this poison out. We cannot afford to lose you, Luigi. Had I not performed the vital test, perhaps you would not be danger of dying because you would already be dead."

Luigi winced and felt a little guilty at his own words.

"As it turns out, we at the Toadley Clinic have devised ways of uncovering the various types of poison that one may be afflicted with. For example, there is the _Phaseolus vulgaris_, which in large doses can cause gastric upset and there is also the vicious _Solanum lycopersicum, _something which you would most definitely not want to ingest. I only happened to know what it was you were attacked with, Luigi, because I have been researching its properties very recently. It is very difficult to create for the ingredients are hard to locate. It is a lot of trouble to go to but I suppose the results for the poisoner are well worth the cause depending on the person they have chosen to victimise."

"Thanks, Toadley," said Luigi. "That makes me feel so much better, you know."

"So what is it exactly?" Booigi asked nervously. The grave expression on Doctor Toadley's face told him that this was far worse than what he had previously thought. Doctor Toadley took a deep breath and dramatically pointed his finger.

"Possession Poison," he said.

* * *

The bright sunlight outside made it hard for her to keep concealed but she was the best that they had so she managed. She slipped by the many, insignificant people unnoticed, completely invisible. She thanked her boss for the cloaking device; it was really rather ingenious and did not lose its power unexpectedly unlike with magic. However, it had cost a large amount of coins so she had better be prepared to look after it _or else._

Where was the man located? It was somewhere along here. _Keep moving forward,_ she told herself _and blend in with the noise otherwise people will become suspicious of a walking patch of silence._ Moving stealthily would attract those who looked at things stealthily. You had to be so careful. But the cloaking device made it so much easier. Especially here. It wasn't exactly Fort Chomp.

Ah, yes. This was the place. She saw the man now, listening intently to the magician Toad. She settled herself down in the corner and also listened.

She didn't realise, however, that there was another watcher in the vicinity. He worked for a different boss, a far superior boss of course. The watchers didn't notice each other's presence and neither did the watchee of course. He didn't require a device to stay invisible. Just a little concentration...

* * *

All four of them looked blank, even Booigi hadn't come across such a term during his reading. Luigi breathed heavily, unsure of what to say. Mario placed a hand on his brother's shoulder and gripped the side of his chair with the other.

Finally, Booigi plucked up the courage and asked, "OK then. So what exactly is Possession Poison, Doctor Toadley?"

Doctor Toadley peered at them mystically although the effect would have been better achieved through a pair of half-moon spectacles. He twiddled his fingers and sighed, perching himself on the end of Luigi's bedside.

"The clue is in the name, you know," he said. "It is something that is very much cherished by the better class of villains such as that dreaded Bowser or that nefarious King Boo, curse them both." (The watchers flinched as well as Booigi upon the mention of his master but he was unnoticed.) "Effectively, it is a method of control that is very difficult to break out of, the subject's will almost entirely bent to that the poisoner although to be able to use it, they must be able to wield dark magic to be able to relay instructions to the subject. Sometimes, they are conscious of what they are doing; sometimes they are not. If they try to fight against its powers, they usually suffer terrible, intense pain, thus breaking them again. The worst part of it must be the periods of consciousness, being aware of what they are doing, whatever it is. I think that you must agree with me on that score.

"Would hypnotism be much easier? It would. For that generally requires a simple incantation and the whole procedure is generally painless and rather relaxing. They are also thankfully, unaware of what they are doing. Of course, depending on the skill of the hypnotist, it may well be easy for the subject to break out of their control. The susceptibility of the subjects varies as well." He glanced towards the stunned Luigi. "However, with Possession Poison, you get much better results on your part. It is there in the bloodstream all the time, like an internal fire. I am not completely sure but I think that the subject may only be released when the poisoner allows them to be so."

Luigi burned a deep-red and muttered something under his breath. His memory was somewhat foggy but he was almost sure that he had undergone such an experience before.

_Was it once or twice? I can't remember_... He was unsure of the reasons and what had happened exactly but if he had undergone hypnosis, as Doctor Toadley seemed to be implying, then he felt weak because of it. He also remembered a flash of his dream. Was this somehow connected? Mario shook his head, not wanting to believe it. After all, he could remember those events had occurred some months ago. He never had the heart to tell Luigi about them.

"Isn't there anything you can do?" he asked desperately. Doctor Toadley shook his head and mumbled: "If only we had that Miracle Toadley Cure..."

"Miracle Cure. We've been through this."

"Maybe if I used my abilities," said Booigi thoughtfully, thinking of his invisibility Booish powers amongst other things. "Maybe I could find a way to extract the poison somehow-"

"No chance!" said Doctor Toadley sharply. "We have no idea about what possible effect it could have on you or whether it would make it somewhat worse for Luigi here. I refuse to allow it. What we shall use is science. Science shall combat science on its own turf."

"But magic is involved as well!" Mario added. Luigi held a stony silence. "Wouldn't that have an adverse effect on your science?"

"Do I know the answer to this? I do not. However, I cannot sit here and do nothing. I will try my best to come up with something. The medics here are the best-trained in the Kingdom. I'm sure we will come up with something. For I am Doctor Toadley, I cannot fail!"

"Yes. We know."

"Why me?" Luigi moaned. The others turned to stare at him. "I don't want to be forced to do something that I know will hurt you guys. I don't want to go through with this. What would everybody else think? They would think that I've turned against them!"

"Don't be daft, Luigi!" Mario laughed hesitantly. "They wouldn't believe that!"

Luigi narrowed his blue eyes. "Wanna bet?"

"Did you say that you think Bowser is somehow behind all this?" Booigi asked. "I thought that he wouldn't have the brains to come up with something like this; that he doesn't have the intelligence to pour water on his tail if it was on fire. That's what Mario said anyway."

"Kamek is Bowser's right-hand Magikoopa," replied Mario. "He knows about all this sort of stuff. If he told Bowser about it, he would then pass it off as his own idea. This will be another plot to take over the Mushroom Kingdom, probably even the world, while kidnapping the Princess of course and this time, he wants my brother to do the dirty work. I think that he reckons that it would hurt me more to see my brother being used this way rather than the other way around."

Mario glanced at Luigi; he did not want to voice that Bowser could be using Luigi because he had been used before for similar reasons. He had to protect his brother, he _had_ to.

"Yeah... he hates me," he said smiling grimly. "And if that's the case, then I'm going to teach him a lesson that he won't forget. Ever. Oh, yeah, and you can stay here Luigi."

"Why? Why do I have to stay here? I want to go too!"

"Because I'd only be leading you towards him, little bro," said Mario, expecting this and ruffling his brother's hair. "I don't want to put you in any more danger than you might already be in. Besides, we don't know when he wants to take the opportunity to..." Mario trailed off and shrugged his shoulders. "In any case, you're staying here."

"Fine," Luigi grumbled. "But don't expect any Fruit Parfait when you come back just in case I've turned wild and insane."

"Can I come too, please?" pleaded Booigi, his eyes shining. "I don't want to feel useless. I want to help. Please?"

Despite his fear, he wanted to meet this Koopa King. King Boo always spoke of him lowly which only made the young Boo want to learn more about him too. Then a sudden thought struck him. How could they be so sure that Bowser was the culprit? King Boo hated Luigi more than Bowser did for sure and he had often talked about doing away with him altogether. And he had been so eager to send Booigi away… Booigi voiced this thought but Mario waved it off.

"You said it yourself that Spear Guys were involved, one part of Bowser's minion army. I don't think that King Boo would employ them; he's strictly pro-Boo and he's still trapped in that painting as far as I know."

Booigi wanted to say that he wasn't; that King Boo was out there and plotting as they spoke but then that meant revealing that he belonged to King Boo's followers and that was not good news. They would question his intentions and think that he was a spy. How would they be able to trust him? How could they trust him now when he was holding back vital information? Booigi felt that he was gaining some sort of friendship; he was already getting to know them better and saw how close the brothers were. He _wanted_ to help them in any way he could.

"Well, don't expect me to stay in this room the whole time," said Luigi. "It takes about two days to get to Bowser's Castle and I'm going to be bored stiff. If I'm allowed to stay that way of course."

"Well, if you're feeling any better, you can help me in the back," said Doctor Toadley. "I could use a spare hand and conduct further tests on this." He waved the poison dart about, catching the attention of the watchers. One of them realised something very wrong and sneaked out as quietly as possible. The other soon followed, feeling very pleased with himself; mission completed.

"Good luck, guys!" smiled the Toadette Nurse as she waved Mario and Booigi off.

* * *

As Booigi floated alongside Mario who was hurrying along quickly, desperate not to catch the eye of anybody in the building, especially that of the reporters, he remembered vaguely that he was supposed to be compiling some sort of report for his liege. He soon forgot this, however, as the pair stepped out of the hospital and made their way to the gates of Toad Town.

Now, this, he supposed, was the start of an adventure. An adventure so soon; he could not help but smile at this but hoped that there wasn't going to be _too_ much danger…


	7. The Magikoopa Council

**Chapter 7: The Magikoopa Council**

Within Bowser's Castle lay a long, low room situated somewhere in one of the tall towers. The minions scurried out of the foreboding room once they had lit all of the stone candelabras. It was a creepy place; everybody knew that, and the people who would be using that room tonight were even creepier. There were also twenty chairs set at the table and a goblet full of sweet wine placed by the seats of everybody that would be attending. Stacks of paper were carefully placed by the goblets, serving as the blueprints of plans and descriptions of important business affairs.

Tonight was the meeting of the Magikoopa.

When the clock struck nine times, the Magikoopas filed into the room and took their reserved seats. Many of them wore different coloured robes; yellow, green, red, white, black and of course, blue, the colour for those most adept at magic. As the Chief had not yet arrived, they were chatting animatedly to one other about trivial things such as needing a new wand, those idiotic Goomba guys, this awful weather and...

A silence suddenly descended upon the Magikoopas like a darkness with the light extinguished. The Chief of the Magikoopa took the chair in front of the large fireplace, the most ornate chair in the room with exquisite carvings of solid oak and sat down heavily. A breeze whipped his blue robes as he shuffled his papers like a news reporter preparing himself. He gave a small sigh as he scanned the first page, put the papers down and took a small sip of the wine before returning to read.

The other Magikoopas stole a look at the Chief and then fidgeted nervously in their seats and carefully avoided each other's eyes. Sometimes, their Chief did this purely to make them agitated but this time, even the Chief looked haggard and clearly wishing to be anywhere else than here. The figure in the painting shifted position, looking down on the Magikoopas with a disdainful gaze. They pretended to ignore it although there were always a few eyes that sneaked a look at the painting that nobody could remove. However, it refused to move whilst it was being stared at.

The Chief coughed delicately, returning all wandering eyes and attention to him. He fumbled with the hexagon-shaped pendant that hung from his neck, a sign of his higher status within the Magikoopa Council and his position as right-hand minion of Bowser. An important minion nonetheless, but still, a minion. He was, of course, Kamek.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," he began. "I have gathered all of you here tonight as a matter of stupendous importance for I have now received the latest information concerning the task that was given to us by Lord Bowser."

There was a low mumbling from the assembled Magikoopas.

"We have toiled long and hard on this darkened road. However, we have almost reached the end of it and I, for one am truly glad about this as this has been much greater than any previous task that the Council has had to accomplish. But the fact that we have almost completed it does not mean we have the excuse to sit back and relax. No. The final part of the greater plan requires all of our strength and endurance and of course, teamwork. I will not tolerate slackness or negligence from any of you and I am quite sure you all know that well. But before I elaborate upon the completing Ritual of the Hour of Darkness, I also have more information regarding other areas of Lord Bowser's Plan." He raised a long eyebrow. "This does not involve the direct capture of Princess Peach. As of yet anyway."

"Oh, finally! That makes a change," muttered a yellow-robed Magikoopa from the other end of the table.

"We are going to undertake a full-frontal assault upon Toad Town, its inhabitants and its castle," said Kamek, ignoring the speaker. He then unrolled a long blueprint on the table. The Magikoopas craned around for a closer look.

"This is a detailed map of the area we shall be attacking in three days' time at precisely 0900 hours. The castle is protected from assault behind as it sits in front of a large, rocky hill with a very steep incline. Therefore, we are unable to attack from that direction. We cannot use the same tactics as last time and attack from an airborne position in the airships as security has been bumped up and the Royal Guard now employs sharpshooters and fire cannons which would dispatch us quickly and efficiently. Take into consideration that there are a lot more of them then there are of us. This only leaves with the option of entering the town and castle through the main gates."

"What? That's crazy talk, Chief!" exclaimed a Magikoopa in black. "Are you saying that we are simply going to waltz right into the place? That's impossible! The Paratroopa Squad they've got would pick us off in seconds and then we'd be shot. And it's pretty difficult to heal an injury like that. Right, Herbert?" he asked one in white who merely nodded.

"Now did I say that we were going to waltz right into the place? Hmm? Did I use those exact words, Malich? I don't seem to be able to recall them..."

The black-robed Magikoopa slunk back in his chair and muttered something under his breath. Kamek stared at him for a good few seconds more than was comfortable. He sipped at the wine and continued speaking:

"I didn't become Chief and right-hand servant of Bowser by making such mistakes. If I did, I wouldn't be sitting here right now; I would most likely be dead or reduced to a level lower than a rookie Goomba. No, what we are going to this: we shall enter Toad Town peacefully and benevolently, bearing no whim to capture or attack. Yes, we shall enter peacefully, ha.

"Instead, we are going there not as robed Magikoopas but as simple traders from a kingdom quite far away from this one. Not too different as to arouse suspicion for we shall be heralding from the delightful Beanbean Kingdom who have had a very good relationship with the Mushroom Kingdom ever since the Mario Brothers…" (He spoke the words with distaste but hiding slight admiration.) "…Defeated the dread witch who preyed there and ah... saved our King Bowser from the possession that he was afflicted with."

"And he repaid his gratitude towards them by invading and attempting to kidnap Princess Peach not that long afterwards!" Malich cried. "I mean, I'm not saying I'm for them or anything, of course not! But surely he could have waited or something. You know, to show some gratitude towards having his life saved."

"It is wisest to attack one's enemy at his weakest," said Kamek. "To attack an enemy when their strength is most mighty would injure us greatly and put us at a terrible disadvantage. Also, it would be incredibly stupid. That is my counsel."

"These Beanish people..." pondered a young, female Magikoopa. "What do they look like?"

"I am glad that you asked, Ruby," said Kamek and pushed a few papers down the oak table and bade them to look at the images closely.

"These are the disguises that we shall be adopting; our trading inventory is being prepared as we speak. We are to be in two groups as well. The nine of you here," he pointed to the Magikoopas closest to him, "And I will enter first just as the gates of Toad Town open. Then the rest of you will enter about 20 minutes later so you do not arouse suspicion. The signal to attack will be given to you by one of the Elite Koopa team members who will be scouting the area. They have already received their instructions.

"Tomorrow, I also want all of you to practise transformation magic in the Great Hall at 7:30. I will be assessing you and anybody who is late will be on toilet cleaning duties for the next two months, day and night. Do I make myself clear?"

The Magikoopa Council assured Kamek that he was definitely being clear. Kamek moved onto the next piece on the agenda and waved a hand at a dimming candle. It brightened up again.

"This that we have been doing for Lord Bowser... " spoke Malich questioning Kamek. "I suppose that this is all to ensnare Mario, right? So that we can finally take over the Mushroom Kingdom and then the rest of the world without having to watch our backs for an annoying, almost unstoppable, red plumber all the time, eh?"

Kamek shook his head drawing whispered mutterings from all the Magikoopas, for they did not have full knowledge of their king's plans. If not Mario, then whom? Who else could it possibly be but Mario? Was the entire task yet to be fully completed in the ensnaring of the Princess? It would be so much better than straightforward capture. Yes, that made sense.

"Then, it must be Princess Peach then herself!" said Baruch the Blue excitedly. "If that is to be, then Mario would not dare hurt her for fear of killing her! What? What do you mean no?"

"Why is it that everybody apart from me seems to forget that Mario is not the only hero in this kingdom?" snapped Kamek, most annoyed by the impudence from Baruch. "Mario is nearly always aided in his quests of heroism and he is, for the most part, helped by somebody who wields more power than he does! A strong, hidden power that only reveals itself at the most crucial of moments; especially when many lives are at stake. Clearly, it must have some sway over all of you Magikoopas as well for you seem to possess little memory of this man! And you should do well to remember this for we have all been beaten by him, even I!" Kamek snorted with disdain; the last battle still stung him.

"It is only because of his brother's fame and his own personal fears that he has been ignored by Bowser and many of us for so long! He is the real reason for our numerous failures in our tasks despite what it may seem! Without him, his brother, Mario, would be alone in the world and not have the strength that he has to rid the people of evil! He has real power; this is the truth!"

The Magikoopas were silent for a moment as they took in this information.

"So you're saying," began Malich, "that all of our preparations, all of our trials, have been to corrupt Mario's brother... _damn, what was his name_... Luigi?"

"Yes."

"Seriously?"

It did seem far-fetched he had to admit.

"Look," said Kamek. "When I was first tasked to capture the Mario Brothers in their infancy, one of them slipped out of my grasp, the other I managed to take and bring back to the castle. That one was the younger one, Luigi. Even then, I could sense the power there, bright as an exploding star. It rightfully belongs to him, and yes I do say that, but we shall control it for our own purposes. And that power has grown tremendously in recent times because of an incident that his lordship had kindly informed me about."

"Are we talking about the time when Lord Bowser was taken by that weird guy in white? The one who kept referring to himself in third person? Princess Peach was taken too, if I recall..."

"Yes, that very same time, Ruby," said Kamek approvingly. He liked Ruby; she was intelligent and very attractive too, she was his favourite. "And when Princess Peach had vanished, the Mario Brothers immediately suspected us of the kidnapping-"

"Can't blame them I suppose," mumbled Malich.

"Thank you, Malich. Anyway, they rushed here and the next thing that we knew, this 'count' arrived, took Peach, our Lord Bowser, Luigi and most of our army away to a hidden castle somewhere in-between dimensions. The Count wanted the Princess and Lord Bowser for a wedding union that would create a terribly dark object called the Chaos Heart. Unfortunately for him, he did not intend for Luigi to get in on the act and try to vanquish the Chaos Heart and from that day forth, Luigi's fate was sealed."

"How so?" the Magikoopas asked.

"As soon as he made contact with the Chaos Heart, it read the deepest recesses of his soul and he was deemed perfect for the inner intentions of the Chaos Heart. Luigi was the ideal host for the Chaos Heart, so the Chaos Heart's power was magnified to proportions far larger than its power when Count Bleck wielded it. The heart of a person like Count Bleck was just not good enough. He wasn't really evil despite his desire to destroy the entire universe but more in deep mourning for his lost love. Even the dreadful evil heart of the true villain, Dimentio, was not of the right substance to bring forth its true power and glory. It needed something good, something filled with light whilst tempered by deep secrets and desires and of course, power. Only one such person fitted the bill, thus bringing forth the power that was capable of destroying the entire universe...

"It was therefore fortunate, that Mario, Peach and our Lord Bowser were able to work together to defeat the darkened fusion of the Chaos Heart, Luigi and Dimentio. And so, Dimentio was utterly destroyed and Luigi barely escaped with his life intact. Really, he should have died having been the host of such dark power even for but a short time.

"But where had the Chaos Heart gone? Lord Bowser assumed, like everybody else, that it had vanished for good but I was not so sure. An object with such strength cannot just suddenly go out of existence like that. Not entirely. So, my theory is that a shard of the Chaos Heart still exists and it resides inside Luigi. That and his love for his brother is what make him so powerful. And that is why Luigi is the most suitable for possession."

"But the full power isn't there is it, if the Chaos Heart is not whole?" said Ruby.

"Sadly not, but with our Possession Poison, we have the ability to unlock more of that power and of course, the ability to have control over it."

("Why does the guy have to sound so cheerful about it?" muttered Malich under his breath.)

"Mario will have much difficulty in trying to solve this situation," said Baruch the Blue thoughtfully. "His own brother, after all, will be turned against him and he will neither know nor care if he somehow mortally wounds Mario. Oh, how delicious..."

"Excuse me, Chief?" asked a small voice at the other end of the table. "Just one question, sir. Why is it that we will be attacking Toad Town and the castle and not Luigi?"

"Lord Bowser has other intentions for him," answered Kamek and the Magikoopa was satisfied.

"You've got to be sorry for the guy, you know," said Malich. "He's been possessed more than once and now we are planning to do it again. How much can one guy take? And now our Lord Bowser is taking advantage of a terrible accident and fate that may well have happened to Green 'Stache in the end anyway. It must feel excruciating to be possessed. I feel kind of sorry for him actually, I mean really sorry... Hey, I'm just glad I'm not in his position, that's all!"

"You seem to be showing an unusual amount of compassion tonight, Malich," said Kamek coolly, peering at the black-robed Magikoopa through his spectacles. "Why is this so? Surely, you are not planning to duck out of this very important assignment?"

Malich sweated in his seat as everybody stared at him and tried not to stare at each other or look guilty in some way. Of course they were all for the plan, they were part of the plan, for stars' sake! And they intended to be on the winning side. And obviously, the safer side...

"Answer me, Malich."

Malich gulped with fear, much to his own personal shame. The Chief could be very harsh when he wanted to be and he was the one earlier who had been talking about admiring the green plumber's powers! Glad that their services were soon to be no longer required, glad that the Ritual was nigh and could be dismissed once done. He didn't need hold his tongue save in the presence of Bowser. They could say anything they wanted as long as it agreed with the words of Kamek and Bowser.

His mother never wanted him to become a Magikoopa in league with Bowser's lot. Now he could see why. And if he showed but a little bit of compassion towards 'The Enemy'...

Malich suddenly screamed as Kamek forcibly used dark magical techniques on him, techniques that cruelly tortured others with flame and darkness sending the excruciating elements down into his very bones. The Devil's Needles, it was known as, practised only by the most accomplished of Magikoopas.

To Malich, it seemed to go on for hours, days, weeks and he was filled with a burning, twisting dragon of fire intent on causing destruction. He could hear its roar in his ears and blocking out all the sweet sounds he had heard in better times. The roars grew louder and louder and the flames grew ever hotter and the poison seeped to greater depths and the darkness completely engulfed his mind. The dragon breathed a ferocious wave of deadly gas that choked him and made him cry out once more. It then appeared in front of his eyes, mocking him and taunting him with lies of malice. Malich promised himself that when he got to the beyond where his mother now resided, he would apologise for becoming a Dark Magikoopa and ask for forgiveness…

Malich stopped screaming suddenly when he was thrown against the stone wall with a flick of Kamek's jewelled wand and crumpled to the floor, breathing heavily. The dragon vanished although it had never existed in the first place; it was all in the mind. Kamek ignored the young Magikoopa's groaning and turned to his fellow Magikoopas who he knew, were definitely loyal now if their loyalty had wavered before.

"And now," said Kamek calmly as if nothing had happened, "Are we going to at last perform the Ritual of the Hour of Darkness?"

The Magikoopas nodded quickly and sprung out of their chairs like a flash. They shifted the heavy tables and chairs out of the way as Kamek muttered spells to himself and drew complex signs on the floor with aromatic, swirling oils and rare coloured chalks. Tiny stone statues, each with their own intricate carved faces were placed in position, going around in a circle. Once Kamek connected up the tiny statues with circles of glowing dust, they too began to glow. The Magikoopas assembled themselves around the circle once they saw that Kamek had nearly completed it. Once Kamek had finished his drawings and consulted the book one more time, he stood in the centre of the room, an impressive figure shrouded by infra-black light. He glanced back for a second and sent Malich rushing towards the door.

"Go now, Malich," whispered Kamek, disgust lining every word. "Your cowardice gives you early departure from us. And if you return, gives you early departure from the world too."

Malich sped down the long staircase of the dark tower, out of the gaze of Kamek, his robes rippling in the wind as he fled. His body still ached terribly from the torture. He planned not to return. Never. He had other plans...

Upon Kamek's word, the lights winked out so that the only light came from the statues on their high pedestals. And now, the Magikoopas began to murmur their chants in a mystical language known only to the initiated for the Ritual of the Hour of Darkness:

**"Voi, valtuuksia, että tiedämme niin hyvin, kehotamme teitä nyt niin että voimme saada voitto itseämme meidän Herramme, Bowser, kuningas Koopas. Tarjoamme valo, pimeys ja isäntä niistä. Valo Tarjoamme sinulle on suurempi kuin omamme, pimeys tarjoamme sinulle on piilotettu mutta saadaan enemmän. isäntä on hyvä, mutta voidaan kääntää. Vastatkaa meitä! "**

They waved their wands about in the air in complex fashions and muttered secret words. Magic streamed out of their shining points and swirled above the head of the Chief Magikoopa who was feverishly reading from an ancient textbook of magic, the Liber Fulvarum Paginarum. The tone of their words seemed to shake the very foundations of the tower and made the minions down below, who had no knowledge of the events occurring above, quake with fear. Perhaps it would have been better to initate this in the basement. Each Magikoopa began to glow of their own accord, in order like a rainbow as they continued their chanting:

**"Ottakaamme sydän sitä jota katsomme arvoisia, ottakaamme sydämessä sitä jota katsomme arvoinen. Tule meille Luigi!"**

The power generated was of an extreme intensity. For a glimmer of a moment, Kamek felt proud for his team except the traitor Malich of course. All of their works, all of their efforts were now coming to fruition. Bowser would be indeed, very pleased with their work and so the plan would continue but in a much more majestic manner than before. It was strange that he never had considered this plan before, but then again, they did not realise how much worth that Luigi had to them. Kamek could imagine the commendation he would receive now...

But then, just as the Ritual reached its height of power, the shining sphere of power above Kamek's head suddenly collapsed and vanished into nothing and the energy of the Magikoopas became utterly spent. Kamek was blasted into the wall furthest away from the door by the energy of the sphere. The rest of the Magikoopas were on the floor and silent, the signs had all but blown away.

The Ritual had not worked. Something had happened. Something was amiss. Something... was wrong.

Kamek picked himself up and ready to vent his rage and fury when the door creaked open. A young, female Koopa entered the room, holding what seemed to be a sort of cloaking device. She saw what they had been trying to achieve and shook her head sadly at it. She went over to Kamek who had angrily tossed the book to his side and spoke quickly and quietly to him. Once he had listened to everything she had to say, the Koopa went as quickly as she had come. Nobody else dared to speak.

Kamek breathed through his nostrils and muttered: "It seems that our potion has been intercepted. My agent says that she saw the vessel that contained it and it was of a different marking despite the fact that it was supposedly our Spear Guys who shot it. The Spear Guys... must have been mere copies. Deception. The marking was of the Boos. "

"How did the Boos find out of our plan?" whispered Baruch the Blue. "It was classified! And what will we do now?"

"They obviously have a spy in our castle," said Kamek. "And they must have been spying on us now for some time. And... Didn't I see a Boo aiding Luigi back in the forest? The two must surely be connected. That then, is the proof of it. However, we will stick to the original plan and see how it can work our way now."

"But how can the power be transferred to them?" cried out the Magikoopa named Herbert. "If we made the potion, then surely we still hold its power! It was our work, this is madness!"

"It doesn't matter who made it first," said Baruch the Blue, blanching. "It is whoever initiates the final part of the procedure... they are the ones who can control the unlucky victim."

For the first time, Kamek was worried about the ineffable plan that had been concocted. The Boos needed to be watched very carefully. Especially as the power was now in their hands...

* * *

Picture if you will, two figures dashing across the plains of the Mushroom Kingdom having just escaped miraculously unscathed the wrath of a large group of Bandits who could smell money from a mile off. They have already had to deal with a gathering of Piranha Plants, who had unfortunately been quite hungry and therefore, angry. This was after the crossing of the river that ran near Toad Town. The bridge had collapsed and there were Cheep Cheeps in the waters. They too, had been hungry. And Mario was still nursing a bite on his backside after being considered a delicacy by said Piranha Plants.

"We've been trekking for ages, Mario! I still can't see Bowser's Castle!"

"We've barely started yet Booigi! How do you expect us to help Luigi if you're complaining a mere three hours into the job?"

"Four."

"Whatever!"

"Mario?"

"What?"

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?-"

"If you don't shut up in one second, I'm going to throttle you!"

"I'm sorry! I'm just worried about Luigi!"

Mario sighed as the little Boo wandered a little ways behind him, taking in everything that he saw in amazement and delight from the flowers to the floating question blocks found here and there. He was rather surprised when he hit one and a Mushroom flew out. Mario picked up the Mushroom and pocketed it; you never knew when you might need one.

Such was his interest in these things that Mario was convinced that he had forgotten what they were actually going for but having stayed in the Mansion for so long, Booigi couldn't help but be interested in all the things that they came across. But he was keeping up and he assured Mario every other minute that he really wanted to help Luigi because he was the first true friend that he had ever had. Mario was touched by the Boo's sincerity and pressed onwards, racing towards the place where the castle stood.

He reached the end of an old metal bridge and stopped suddenly, shuddering as Booigi passed through his body and out of the other side.

"Oh gods, it was definitely here last time. Where has it been moved to now?"

"You mean you've lost it?" said Booigi.

"How can I possibly lose a castle? It's a bit big to fit in my pockets don't you think? Sheesh!"

"You can fit an Ultra Hammer and countless Mushrooms and items and things in your pockets though," said Booigi in a matter-of-fact voice. "Anyway, you said, and I quote: 'I know the way to Bowser's Castle like the back of my own hands!' So where do you suppose it has gone?"

"Give me a moment and I'll know where it is, OK? Now, can you really help me by keeping quiet for a moment. Please?"

"OK!" said Booigi brightly.

Mario sat down on the grass and pulled out a weathered map from his overalls and looked at possible locations for Bowser's Castle. Every now and then, Bowser moved his castle to a different location in the hope that this would somehow confuse the Mario Brothers. It often delayed them but this had been done so many times that they had marked down all the locations on a handy map. Bowser wasn't entirely accustomed to change. Mario traced a finger down a well-trodden path and tapped it knowingly. He rolled the map back up and called to Booigi. Booigi floated to Mario's side and looked up with soulful eyes.

"We... will be able to help Luigi won't we? How do we know that we won't be too late? You heard what the Doctor said after all. I'm scared for him, Mario..."

Mario tightened his fists in an act of determination and bade Booigi to follow him once more. "We won't know if we stop for long, Booigi," he said. "And I for one do not intend on giving up like that. So, are you coming or what?"

"Of course I am!" cried Booigi and sped off once more. He wondered whether he should tell Mario that he was supposed to be working for King Boo but no, now was not the time. Besides, it was taking up his effort not to cry for the well-being of his friend, the one who cared for him...

* * *

Night had fallen and Luigi lay in a deep sleep and was tormented still by his nightmares. His heart thudded erratically as past memories caught up with him again. Luigi twisted and turned shaking like a leaf as his dream took another turn. He let out a sharp groan. He seemed to be fighting against something dark, something terrible. He tried calling out for his brother, but in his heart, he knew that Mario was not there.

And if Doctor Toadley had been watching him, he would have known that his patient's afflictions were getting worse and he could have also followed him as Luigi, still asleep, rose out of bed and with great accuracy, jumped out of the open window and onto the roof of a building nearby. It began to rain heavily and it soon soaked Luigi to the bone. He went off in the darkness not knowing where he was going.

And nobody would notice his disappearance until much later.

* * *

**Just a quick note to give you the translation i.e. Finnish. Thanks for the reviews by the way. :D**

**"Oh, powers that we know so well, we call upon you now so that we may gain victory for ourselves for our Lord, Bowser, King of the Koopas. We offer the light, the darkness and the host of those elements. The light we offer you is greater than our own, the darkness we offer you is hidden but can be made greater. The host is good but can be turned. Please answer us!"**

**"Let us take the heart the one whom we deem worthy, let us take the heart of the one whom we deem worthy. Come to us Luigi!"**


	8. During a Dark Night

**With special thanks to ActionGal07 who reckons that this is a masterpiece! You're all great. :D**

* * *

**Chapter 8: During a Dark Night**

_Now watch closely as a young man wanders in our midst, cold and alone in the black, starless night. On closer inspection, he seems to be neither awake nor asleep but somewhere in between. In fact, he appears to be in a somewhat deep trance that he won't be coming out of any time shortly. He treads the treacherous, wandering path that leads to the Mansion of the Boos with perfect recognition, as if he has been here before. _

_But how? For that Mansion has only been situated in that spot for a week at the most, having been relocated from a place that the Toads and the Mario Brothers know not. Yet he is drawn to it as iron is to a magnet and he is not at all conscious about it._

_Despite the ambling pace that he is taking for the person who has commanded him to come is in no particular hurry, his heart beats erratically and violently against his chest. Whether it is due to some inner fear that his heart perceives or whether he is trying to fight against that which is controlling him; feeling the consequences of doing so, we know not. His strength is not enough to break free of the evil device but perhaps he can grant his self a moment's respite when his controller has no sudden need of him, like a puppeteer who has decided to put away his marionette for the night._

_At last, his quiet footsteps guide him towards the light that is emanating from the Mansion. Two lanterns swing wildly in the strong wind and the light inside them almost go out. But he has seen them and they do not extinguish themselves just yet. He follows the dark path set before him and arrives at the main gates. As if they sense his presence, they creak open and admit him into the grounds that surround the Mansion. He enters and once in, the gates suddenly slam themselves shut but he appears not to notice. Neither does he notice the weathered tombstones that are dotted upon the mounds of overgrown grass. _

_Perhaps one of them has his name on..._

_His attention, in fact, is more focussed on the door slightly ahead of him and he walks up to it. The door is locked and has no keyhole and therefore has no keys. Only a certain Booish phrase will grant passage inside the Mansion and then, the words tumble out of his mouth unconsciously, without having previous knowledge of what they were or what they meant._

_Blinking in the sudden light that is set before him, with the electric lights hanging from the ceiling setting a cosier ambience, he walks in, clearly having no idea of the place that he has just stepped into. There are also a few Boos knocking about in the lobby, relaxing in the way that Boos do. Some read magazines catching up on the latest gossip; others swap the secrets to true scaring tactics. _

_The doors suddenly slam shut._

_They turn around and are shocked by the sudden appearance of this man. Each one turns to their neighbour and questions him, wondering if they know what is going on around here. The man doesn't seem to be hostile towards them at the moment, in fact, he looks somewhat... dazed, confused, bewildered. Hypnotised. _

_Some of the Boos present have interior knowledge of the plans of King Boo and whisper titbits of knowledge to their neighbours who nod in satisfaction and smile evilly. They watch silently as the green-capped man ascends the staircase and makes his way towards the private chambers of the nefarious King Boo. _

_However, this is not to say that everybody there is pleased by the events that are taking place. _

_One of the higher-ranked Boos gazes down at him from an upper floor, wondering what is about to be done with the moustachioed man. He feels sadness... and fear. He wears his brightly polished helmet with a purple feather docked at its top. He holds a spear, mainly for ceremonial purposes. He senses the thudding heart of the man, the human known as Luigi. He clutches his spear more tightly..._

* * *

As darkness had fallen across the entire Mushroom Kingdom, Mario had decided to set up camp for the night. He and Booigi were both tired and though Bowser's castle was now in relatively easy reach, they could not go on much further without exhausting themselves. Booigi would have gone on further for Mario though because he could see that the red plumber was deeply worried about his brother. He hadn't said much at all in the last 10 miles either.

Booigi huddled underneath his blanket further, feeling chilly as the wind blew through the trees that they were sheltered under. It made the branches sway and leaves rustle loudly. A few droplets of water hit the ground, unnoticed unless they landed on Booigi's head. He shuffled up to Mario in a bid to share body warmth.

And yet, Booigi felt quite relaxed for it was a beautiful night as the stars twinkled in the heavens above and in the midst of all the countryside surrounding them, the pair were alone. It was certainly a relief to be out of all that danger that they had to endure so far. On top of the encounters with Piranha Plants, Bandits and Cheep Cheeps, the unlikely duo had also ran into a group of Wigglers who had been ambling along quite peacefully with their flowers in full bloom. But unfortunately, their flowers had been knocked off by a rushing Booigi. And after escaping from them, Mario went scouting ahead. He seemed to have taken a fair amount of time.

Booigi only realised that something was amiss when Mario came charging back much faster than before screaming "RUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!" Apparently, he had disturbed something called a Chain Chomp in the middle of its dinner.

After that terrifying incident and several attempted bites, Booigi decided that he needed to learn more of the creatures of the Mushroom Kingdom, just in case he ever ran into them on his own. (An unlikely chance considering that King Boo rarely let out little, pesky Boos like Booigi but you never knew.) He asked Mario this once they had gained a safe enough distance from the angry Chain Chomp. After all, who better to learn off than an experienced adventurer like Mario himself?

Glad of something to distract himself with, Mario told Booigi all he knew, talking about strange and numerous creatures such as Dry Bones, a sort of undead Koopa that could only be defeated with fire or as was recently discovered, ice otherwise, they would rise up again from their pile of bones like zombies and proceed to kill you. Bob-ombs were another Mushroom Kingdom species and Mario warned Booigi of how unpredictable these enemies could be. They seemed harmless enough at first and in appearance, like a wind-up toy. They could start moving around of their own accord however and suddenly blow up. And of course, he did not forget to mention the Shy Guys and their many variations. _Shy Guys,_ he had said, _are probably the most mysterious of species on this planet. And they are just damn weird too._

Booigi listened to Mario's tales, completely and utterly fascinated. He wanted to stay with Mario and Luigi forever, especially once they cured Luigi of his most unfortunate disposition. They liked him which was more than could be said of the many Boos back at the Mansion.

_Do I really have to go back?_ This he had wondered earlier that day as they trekked the rough terrain. King Boo had given him two weeks in the outside world which Booigi would have liked to stretch out for a lifetime but he also remembered the many times of King Boo's wrath and anger. He had clearly stated on many occasions on how despaired he was that his little charge which he had been saddled with behaved in an infuriatingly un-Boo like way.

But did he really want to behave like a Boo?

In the early days, Booigi had often cried to himself in his own small room after such comments but as he grew older, he realised that he didn't really care and that he just wanted to be himself. He also wanted to know how he had ended up at the Boo Mansion in the first place but he had never received answers, just punishments...

Booigi liked to learn but he didn't want to know of so-called Booish lore; he wanted to learn about everything else in the outside world, about people, about the sun, about light and life in general. Knowledge is power.

Hell, Booigi didn't really need to stay with King Boo and the rest of his gang any longer. He was almost fully grown. What would they care if he suddenly vanished without a trace? They probably wouldn't even notice...

Booigi nodded to himself feeling happier and flipped open his secret and beloved diary. He chewed on the end of his pen for several moments, wondering on what to write. He thought about what had happened over the last couple of days; quite a lot it seemed and he needed to record all of it. He formulated a few sentences in his mind after some brief consideration and bent over to write.

But then the red fire suddenly blew out leaving him and Mario in darkness again.

Booigi whimpered, fearing the lack of light. It wasn't that he needed it to see what he was doing; Boos had near perfect night vision after all, it was simply that Booigi was afraid of the dark. It was something he had never got over from being a small child. How ironic it was, for a Boo to be afraid of the dark many people would have said. He reached over to Mario who was unmoving and snoring loudly.

"Mario?" he whispered, a squeak entering his voice. "Mario, please wake up!"

"Wsftgl?" Mario opened his eyes for a second before dropping back off again. Booigi heard his snores after a few seconds of quiet.

"MARIO!"

"Hm? Who's attacking?" he mumbled sleepily.

"Er, nobody at the moment."

"Oh, good. Now let me go to sleep..."

"But, Mario!"

"Oh for crying out loud..." Mario muttered under his breath. "What now?"

"The fire's gone out!" said Booigi, waving his hands frantically as if it was a major crisis.

Mario looked at the fire to see if it had indeed gone out. He looked at Booigi again with tired eyes.

"Yeah, it's gone out. That's what fires do. Anyway, it's better for us because we won't be spotted by any Koopas or Magikoopas from Bowser's Castle nearby. This means we're safer that way. I should have put it out earlier." Mario groaned and rubbed his eyes. "Now is that it? Can I go back to sleep now?" Mario never liked his rest being disturbed at the best of times.

"But I don't like the dark, Mario," Booigi whimpered. "It scares me."

"Come off it!" said Mario. "You're a Boo. Boos can't be scared of the dark, they live in it! It's a sort of built-in thing isn't it? You don't see many Boos out and about in daylight. They like the dark!"

"I don't so it can't be a built-in thing," said Booigi stubbornly. "The dark reminds me of too many bad things and I prefer it when it's light; everything looks better in the light. So can you please relight the fire? Please? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease?"

"No." Mario pulled the covers over his eyes and tried to block Booigi's voice out.

"Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please!-"

Mario gave up. "Oh, alright then but don't blame me if we get nabbed by some lunatics when we're sleeping in ten minutes time. I don't normally do this as a rule but at the moment, I'll do anything for a decent night's sleep."

Mario sat up and formed a bright red fireball that spun rapidly in his hands. He carefully placed the fiery orb on the broken twig pile which, as soon as it was touched, lit up again to form a burning, crackling pyre. Mario rubbed his eyes again and blinked; suddenly blinded by its brightness. Booigi snuggled up near the fire feeling its warmth gladly wash over him.

"If you don't my saying so, you're one of the strangest Boos I've ever met and I've met a lot of strange Boos, you know that?" Booigi nodded understanding him perfectly. "And you haven't told me yet, you met my bro in Toadwood Forest by accident but where did you come from and why?"

Booigi froze and gulped quietly, not at all sure of what to say. That he came from the Boo Mansion nearby under orders from King Boo himself? That he was to study the Mario Brothers for their weak points and such like? Booigi knew that he had to break the news eventually.

"Um... well... y-you s-see, I-" Then Mario yawned widely and turned over in his blankets.

"Oh, forget it. Tell me in the morning," he groaned. "Night..."

"Goodnight, Mario," Booigi whispered but Mario was already fast asleep again.

Once he heard Mario snoring again, Booigi settled himself down and pressed the pen to the page, willing to write whilst he had some light. Tired as he was, he couldn't quite let himself fall asleep just yet. The night had been exciting; almost too exciting. Maybe there was such a thing as too much excitement. He really should have dropped off quickly and got some well-earned rest but he was stubborn as well as timid. There was always danger abroad and there could have been danger very close by.

_Stop worrying yourself_, Booigi, he told himself. _Mario's here so you're not likely to be attacked._ And thinking of his friend, Luigi, he finally started to write:

_'Dear Diary,'_ he began. '_Well, this past couple of days has been very fascinating for me and no mistake! If you remember me telling you, that so-called king of mine sent me out from the Mansion for a while which was really surprising but I was so glad about it! The forest was scary, especially because I've heard about those weird creatures that live in it but you'll never guess who I met on the way. That's right, Luigi!_

_'I guess the Stars must have been shaping my fate that day and if they were, I want to thank them for letting me see Luigi! What's he like? Well, he's everything like I imagined him to be but better, if you know what I mean, Diary. And he's really tall as well! Wish I was taller because I'm only little but at least I'm bigger than a Toad. Mind you, I guess his height gives him that jumping prowess! (But you knew that anyway.)_

_'So anyway, I've met him (after helping him escape from those bad guys!) and we managed to make it to Toad Town. I thought about having a chat, tell him a little about myself and yes, I would have mentioned sooner or later about King Boo, that's he's up and about again. (I wish not... but I had no choice.) But Luigi's been poisoned and he nearly DIED! Yes, DIED!'_

Booigi was melodramatic when he wanted to be. He also liked to put his thoughts directly into words.

_'I nearly lost it there, let me tell you, but fortunately, they've got very good doctors in Toad Town._

_'Luigi says that it was Spear Guys that attacked him first and Mario says that they work for King __**Bowzer**__ Bowser. Now I can get that but I'm not entirely sure whether it was him who ordered the attack because I've just got that feeling. You want to know what I think, Diary? I think that it was King Boo! After all, we Boos can transform into other creatures and it seems suspicious to me that I was sent out the day before this horrible attack! __**Cowincidense? Cowensidence? Conci-**__ You know what I'm trying to say anyway._

_'You know that the stupid one hates Luigi and Mario, but especially Luigi because he foiled his plan a while ago with that Poltergeist 3000 thingy or whatever it was called. But surely there are other reasons as to why he hates them so much. I know Bowser hates Luigi and Mario because they keep foiling his plans of taking over the Mushroom Kingdom and kidnapping the princess. But seriously! That guy must have issues or something. I mean, what does he actually do with the princess when he kidnaps her? It's kind of crazy to me, he must be obsessed! The guy needs a hobby or something. _

_'...How many times has the princess been kidnapped anyway? Not just by Bowser I hear but by others too! She's been kidnapped 17 times I think. Sheesh, I don't exactly know what it is about her that the villains really go for but I would love to meet her again! Remember first time, Diary? It was at that karting business since King Boo wanted to take part and I just happened to come along with some of the others. She was so sweet and graceful and beautiful... _

_'Wonder if I'll see her again?_

_'And so to sum matters up, Diary, me and Mario are on our way to Bowser's Castle to confront him or something, see if there is a cure for Luigi. I suppose it's a good a place to start as any. I hear that there are Magikoopas there too; maybe they know about coming up with a cure (providing that they were the ones who made the potion in the first place and I really don't think they did!). Bowser's going to be really scary but I need to face up to him! (And get over this problem with the dark as well...)_

_'Well, that's all for now, Diary! I shall write again as soon as possible but I'm finishing for now because I've got that funny feeling that somebody is reading my words as I write them... Bye!'_

Booigi sighed with a sense of relief as he put his diary away and laid back; gazing at the twinkling stars. He yawned widely, thinking about what they had to do the very next morning and soon fell asleep, lulled by the shimmering light from the fire beside him.

The last thought he had that night was that he wished he did not glow so brightly in the darkness, quite forgetting that the fire would have been more than enough to give them away.

* * *

The Boo Messenger who was most unfortunate to have been given this latest task, quietly crept up to the door of King Boo's private chambers clutching several important-looking documents marked with the seal of Bowser the Koopa King. He wondered why his liege wanted these papers so badly for he had dared not look at them himself. He didn't want to do anything, whatever it might have been to upset the Booish King at this moment in time for his lordship was still exceedingly angry and full of rage over the incident down in the basement laboratory mark two. Everybody had been treading on eggshells since then and quite literally too along with the towering pink chickens that had appeared after the ill-advised concoction was made.

Thankfully, those had been gotten rid of and so had the Fuzzies of the Yoshi's Island persuasion; the ones that made everybody dizzy and seem very drunk. Those hadn't improved King Boo's temper either when seeing of all of his subjects crashing into walls, singing strange ditties and thinking that the floor was both sinking/rising and threatening to swallow them. But it had all been sorted now and the culprit had been 'carefully disposed of'.

The messenger took a deep breath and tapped on the door three times. The resonating echoes that followed afterwards were far too loud for his taste.

"Enter," said King Boo softly.

The messenger entered with the papers, holding them out as far as possible in his tiny hands as if they were some kind of bomb. Once he placed them on King Boo's ornate desk, he bowed before his king, swallowing his nerves and saluted Captain Boomerang who floated before the open window, wearing a moody expression and not at all his usual self. Boomerang hardly seemed to notice the messenger before him and only briefly responded to a question posed to him by King Boo.

Feeling that there was no further use of him, the messenger attempted to sneak back out and managed to reach the door.

"Ah, before you go young Boolicious," said King Boo delicately. Boolicious froze momentarily. "Please do inform Boohaha in the laboratory that everything seems to be ship-shape now and if there are many more problems upon that sort of scale, then he has more to worry about than the prospective loss of his job."

"Y-y-yes, sir," the young Boo stuttered and with that, he gladly exited the room and went to the hall in the relative safety of his Boo friends.

King Boo shuffled through the delivered papers and instructed Boomerang to set up his Crystal Ball again, desiring to know the whereabouts of 'that confounded Mario.' Blast it, he hated both of those brothers.

Boomerang went over to the gilded and decorative cabinet and pulled the deep purple sphere out of its protective velvet covering. He set it upon a small stand on what was called the scrying table, made sure that it was fixed and gave it a good polish. He polished it for as long as was possible, giving himself a job to distract his self with.

"If you would just wait here, Captain, whilst I study these papers that have been 'borrowed' from Bowser. Amuse yourself, why don't you? I may be of some time for these are perhaps crucial to what I want to achieve in the short future."

"Very good, sire," said Boomerang as he carried on polishing the Crystal Ball that had been so useful in King Boo's operations. As he worked, his mind considered the plan that he had been informed of earlier and he felt that it could not do anything of worth and could only bring death. King Boo's plans of late had become terribly ambitious and his desire to rule the Mushroom Kingdom and more only equalled it.

He remembered a day that seemed to have happened a long, long time ago but perhaps it was his memory playing tricks on him. He remembered that they had managed to capture that small group of Boos who, despite their look of inadequacy, fought back tremendously and had almost escaped. Of course, having the little ones with them had weakened their chances and maybe they could have fled had they not had those precious burdens.

Boomerang wished they had managed to flee; that his battalion had failed to capture them. But he was younger and less wise then and he thought that he was doing right for the Booish race. These Boos who spouted on about morals, mortals and working together, how they were not so different from us.

_Preposterous!_ his own group had said. _It was not to be, how could they ever understand us?_ _And how could we ever understand them?_ It seemed logical to Boomerang at the time. Boos were not mortal but then, neither were they truly immortal. They were, for want be of a better word, ghosts after all.

Boomerang remembered taking the glowing, axe-like weapon to the executioner; a grim, stout fellow who said that he had seen it all, heard it all. He looked at Boomerang full of pity and said that his time would come. And though he thought of himself as brave and courageous, he flinched as the axe swished towards its first target, gaped open-mouthed at the second, and closed his eyes tightly for the rest of them until he was made to watch again and drink in its horror.

Boomerang wished that he had not been present for that day for they had utterly destroyed another clan. They did not wish harm upon others; they were very benevolent indeed and did not seek war. At least the children were not executed as well but they did take them for their own and radicalise their very thoughts. Children were much easier to deal with; anybody who had ever engaged in war knew that. So, for their purposes, they were changed.

Well... most of them. One was particularly averse to the changes. King Boo, as one of the leaders present, was given that one to raise whilst the other leaders took their own fruitful pick. Boomerang could see their frightened faces now as they were fought over like slaves at a market.

But they would forget; they were only young, most of them would forget.

Boomerang would not forget even though he was not amongst those who had lost their families to some dark forces. He was one of a Hunter Clan. He couldn't show weakness ever, but he was showing weakness now.

You could not change your past, but perhaps you could change your future.

"Captain Boomerang? Are you crying?"

Boomerang jerked upright and saluted out of sheer habit. He pretended to rub his nose with a handkerchief and blow.

"Me, sire? Of course not, sire! I've just been... a bit under the weather lately that's all!"

"Oh, good," said King Boo. "I was afraid that you were remembering a particularly difficult time where many innocent Boos were brutally killed and the rest of them were taken as captives and made to forget their own parentage and embrace the one true Booish way of life and that you were quite upset by the memory and you are now feeling guilty about taking apart?"

_Damn._ "You mean the traitor Boos? I admit that it was a difficult time but we had to do what we had to, sire or else we would become weak and subject to the rule of the Toads."

"Indeed we would," whispered King Boo. "And we must not forget that."

King Boo tucked the documents in a place out of sight from Captain Boomerang although he caught a glimpse of some of the words on the top page and saw that it was about the Mario Brothers. That was not wholly unexpected. His liege then floated over to the waiting Crystal Ball and placed himself before it; gazing into its foggy depths. He muttered some unintelligible words and occasionally rubbed the ball. After a while of silence and staring into places far off from his own Mansion, King Boo got up from his seat, satisfied with what he had seen.

"It appears that Mario does not readily suspect us just yet although that may not be the case in the short future. He will likely find out soon enough but if he believes for longer that Bowser is the main villain behind this, then so much the better for us. Of course, he would have been had I not intervened, as it were. He really should keep a better grip on his plans. He is probably concocting another one even as I speak. And that is why, my dear Boomerang, I have ordered the Army to train and be given those potions as Bowser is so dully predictable, is he not? And he is such a fool... Oh, he may have come up with the original plan (or rather, his servant did that for him) but I do not think he sees the full potential of it. And that's his problem.

"Who would have thought that Luigi _(bleh!)_ was at the centre of this Chaos Heart trouble? Indeed... Oh, and incidentally, Boomerang, do you know why I sent that little Boo out on a lovely little journey?" Boomerang shook his head. "This Crystal Ball can of course, track people, be they Mario or Luigi but it is far easier for me to track them if they have a Booish presence amongst them."

So you mean, a spy?" said Boomerang glumly.

"That is exactly what I mean, Boomerang. A spy. And he makes a very good one, as it turns out although I am going to have to have him punished for those words he was writing down a little earlier. Remind me about that later. I must be careful about him..."

Boomerang suddenly felt sorry for Booigi and remembered that he was one of the little Boos that they had captured and took to the Mansion along with the others. He was the strongest, as it turned out despite his tender age.

"And now, enough with this chit-chat for we have a guest who has been waiting for us for a fair while. It would be rude to delay him any longer. We must greet him and... talk to him. And that means you are coming with me, Boomerang."

Captain Boomerang opened his mouth, about to protest or make an excuse about having to be somewhere else and inspect the troops but King Boo pinned him up against the wall wearing a cool, calculating expression. He tightened his grip as the other Boo struggled.

"You would do well to remember your place..." he hissed quietly. "You do not want to meet an unfortunate fate now, especially as your career is coming along rather nicely. And of course, you've got a wife and child to think about..."

King Boo dropped him like a stone and proceeded down the corridor and up the stairs of the spiralling tower of the Mansion leaving Boomerang stunned and frightened of King Boo and ashamed of himself once more.

* * *

Luigi seemed to barely come to his senses and was only woken up by the moonlight streaming in through the open window and the blast of cold air. He tried to move only to find that he was bound to the wall by a long, silver chain. He glanced about the room, his fear slowly increasing. He couldn't remember coming here, why on earth was he here? And how on earth did they manage to bind him here, whoever they were?

Luigi started panicking. He struggled violently; the chain threatening to cut into his skin and his struggles getting him nowhere. He could not use fire on the chain either for it was designed to repel such an element. He turned sharply when he heard the door slowly creak open and caught a glimpse of the glowing figure that stood by it. He was grinning and knew that he was going to enjoy this.

In horror, Luigi realised that his previous dream was about to come true.


	9. The Trial: Part One

**Hello again, readers, this time, I have a riddle for you: I can be found where anything cannot; dead men eat me all the time, but if a living man eats me, he'll die. What am I?**

* * *

**Chapter 9: The Trial- Part One**

As dawn broke, the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom began to rise from their beds and soon enough, the towns and cities would be full of the hustle and bustle of people. In Toad Town, they would also be waking up to the latest edition of The Daily Maple, showing the shocking and terrible news that would later reach the national papers such as The Daily Pipeline. Many a Toad today sat with his newspaper propped up against the milk jug at breakfast, reading pages while eating hot, buttered toast and shaking his head at the awful incident that had occurred the previous day. Some of them wondered why the reporters had been unable to obtain any pictures of public hero number two, Luigi, but after watching the news reel that morning, their musings had been answered.

"Thought he was going to beat them up then, by boogity," said Toadbert as he watched the hospital footage showing Mario's furious face on the television in the lounge at Princess Peach's Castle. Toadiko sat next to him on the sofa, holding a steaming cup of coffee, sipping it gently.

"Well, Toadbert," she said, her eyes flashing with annoyance. "You would too if somebody decided to shove a camera up your nose like that and bombard you with questions about your brother!"

"I slightly object to that," he said. "Don't you think that is slightly exaggerating the point? They were about five feet away from him!"

"Doesn't make much difference when you're talking about family issues. Anyway, he should have beaten them up I reckon."

"I think that would have slightly damaged Mario's reputation there, he just about managed to keep his cool. He doesn't go beating up reporters, Toadiko!"

"Well, he should have," Toadiko sniffed. "It would have done us all a favour because they're only looking for stories never mind the consequences behind them. Nothing but nosy little parkers!"

"You've never liked the press since they thought your dad was burgling the castle when all he was doing was patching the roof, have you?" asked Toadbert.

"No, I jolly well haven't! Anyway, it probably would have been better if Mario set fire to them and their equipment. He was nearly going to too."

"Toadiko!" said Toadbert aghast. "Violence doesn't solve anything!"

"Tell that to Mario and Luigi then when they next risk their lives to save us! What do you think they're gonna do, have a nice cosy chat and a cuppa with a bunch of evil guys who want to destroy the planet or something?"

"That's different!" said Toadbert reddening. "Anyway, I note that you only say 'evil guys'."

"Well that's because most of the major villains we've heard about are male, true fact."

"What about the Shadow Queen and the Shroob Princesses and the witch Cackletta? Ha!" he said clapping his hands with glee. "Got you there! And I bet there are more to follow!"

"Probably too smart to be caught then unlike you.

Toadiko sat back triumphantly and flashed a grin at Toadbert who glowered at her and started muttering something under his breath about Toadettes. He got up from his seat and happened to glance outside the window when he noticed that a very special building some distance from the castle was on fire.

* * *

Some people had noted the disappearance of Mario early in the day but they weren't particularly worried about that; Mario often vanished from the town for weeks at a time on some merry jaunt or another. They only really started to worry when their town or castle was being ripped from its very foundations by some dark vortex or possibly Bowser and they couldn't quite see Mario in their line of sight. Even then, they were usually rest assured that the red-capped plumber was close by armed with a star and a ruddy great hammer_. If we didn't have Mario..._ This they had recited to themselves many times. But for now they were content. As far as they knew, Mario had just nipped out for a spot of gambling in Grate Guy's Casino in the far North-East part of the Mushroom Kingdom. Good place that. Or was it for something ever so slightly more urgent? Was it to do with his brother? Ah, that could have been it...

Coincidentally, nobody had noticed the disappearance of Mario's little brother Luigi although Doctor Toadley would discover much to his fears soon enough when he went to check upon his patient in the Toadley Clinic in about ten minutes time. As for Luigi himself, he lay just within the boundaries of Toad Town at the bottom of a short stone staircase leading towards the awed and mystical Star Temple. His eyes flickered open as he came around, feeling a pain in his back where he had lain funny all night. Luigi unsteadily got to his feet and stared at his surroundings before fixing his gaze upon what was in front of him in wonder and shock.

The Star Temple. Nobody remembered now who had first built the place all those hundreds of years ago in homage to the almighty Star Spirits that resided in Star Haven but the essence of power that it surely commanded then still held its strong presence even now. Hardly anybody went into the Star Temple nowadays. That was not to say that it was abandoned but there was always an unearthly, spiritual feel about the place and the people were often afraid of treading in there for fear of somehow marking the floor with dirty shoes. Instead, they tended to congregate outside in the Temple Grounds and listened to the myths and the legends from Star Haven delivered by the Star Mages (and although never referred to by actual name, Mario and Luigi often featured in those fantastical legends. Yet none of the people realised it and the brothers only had a faint inkling themselves. Some of them had come to pass and were true. Most of them still awaited the correct path to be walked upon but in years and years to come, they too, would come true). There was always a great deal of excitement when they heard that the Star Mages were in town for they appeared rarely and infrequently. But you could depend upon it that the whole town would suddenly become deserted as everybody flocked to the sprawling Temple Grounds for one blessed day.

The Star Temple was of a small, comfortable size and yet it seemed to tower above everything in sight. The outside of the Star Temple was lit by six pillars of everlasting golden flame whilst the trees in the Temple Grounds depicted legendary scenes and epic battles. They never needed tending to either and it seemed that fresh pieces suddenly appeared overnight, glowing underneath the moon and starlight. Inside the Star Temple, mythical markings in an unknown language and diagrams of constellations spread themselves across the walls in a variety of flashing colours.

Six large mechanisms stood on either side of the low platform at the far back of the temple, floating eerily in mid-air, levitated by no apparent means. Three of the devices spun slowly in the horizontal position; the others spun vertically. They had been there an age but their origins were unknown as were their purpose for being built. A means of generating a magical force-field perhaps? On the platform between the mechanisms; there stood a small rectangular block with a small indent at the top. Upon that block was a glowing white sphere of power, crackling with energy, humming gently. It was shielded behind an almost-invisible wall which was said not to break until the right bearer of the power came forth to find it at the right time. Who knew what powers it beheld...?

It was always such a beautiful place.

However...

Luigi's hand brushed against the blackened stumps that had been the glowing trees and his feet nudged smashed pieces of stone that had been part of the actual temple. The place simply looked completely devastated. As Luigi watched, part of a wall which had been struggling to stay upright crumbled before his very eyes. He stepped around the wreckage and walked towards the entrance and saw further devastation inside; the tall plinths inside having been attacked with brute force. He saw however, that the mysterious power sphere deep inside had remained completely intact as had the strange mechanisms.

He suddenly felt a curious attraction to touch the object but as soon as he stepped over the threshold, he was violently thrown backwards out of the temple by an invisible energy and cracked his head against the floor.

_"Mamma mia..."_ he groaned. He clutched his throbbing head. "Who on earth did this? And why?"

"That is precisely what I want to know, Mr Luigi."

Luigi found himself pinned down on the ground before he could react and as he struggled against the steely grip, he was shot in the side with a dart. He gritted his teeth, hardly able to believe what was happening and looked up. Standing in front of him was Toad Town's police Chief Inspector Banks who was surrounded by several robotic Police Guards, one of whom was currently holding Luigi down.

"You're not supposed to shoot first then ask questions later," said Luigi.

"Luigi Mario," Chief Inspector Banks stated drily. "I am placing you under arrest for suspected arson and attempted murder. You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Providing that you do have evidence of course, because I would really love to see you wangle your way out of this one. Dearie me, Mario's own brother, caught red-handed at the scene of a crime." He seemed rather pleased at this prospect.

"Officer," growled Luigi from the floor. "Just because I happened to be standing here, doesn't mean I committed the crime! And what the hell do you mean by 'attempted murder?'"

"Yeah, right, pull the other one, it's got bells on."

"I'd be delighted to if your guard would let me up!"

"Mr Luigi," said Banks, twirling his truncheon expertly. "You know as well as I do that this rather magnificent building cannot be harmed except by magical means and correct me if I'm wrong, but you do possess powers of the magical kind, right?"

"Yes," said Luigi testily. "And what of it?"

Banks pointed to the building and Luigi noticed for the first time that much of the Star Temple was still burning fiercely with emerald-coloured flames. His heart sank; nobody else wielded fire magic like his. He knew exactly what happened then at that moment but what of the so-called attempted murder?

"Officer, I can explain-"

Banks suddenly burst out laughing. "Oh, yes, please do so! But save your explanations for court, lad. And incidentally, do you know that harming a place of power like this one can directly affect the ones whom the power belongs to? In other words, you could have just killed a star, or even worse, a Star Spirit! Now; what've you got to say to that?"

Luigi was pulled upright by the Police Guard and tried to speak his defence but his words were coming out all slurred and distorted. _It was Possession Poison,_ he wanted to say. _I'm not in control of this! You must believe me, Officer! _

"And with killing a star, you'll have put a Dark Star in its place so thanks for that, Luigi," said Banks. "I always knew that you were completely worthless to us, on Bowser's orders I bet..."

Luigi would have attacked him there and then such was the anger in his heart had he not fallen unconscious around that point with the serum inside him. If only he knew that the defiling of the Star Temple was a mere test set out by King Boo; a starter served before the king's main courses.

Funnily enough, the legends had mentioned this as well.

* * *

"You know when I said that we might get grabbed by some lunatics in the night?"

"Yes?"

"I told you so."

"... Sorry."

Mario and Booigi were currently being led through Bowser's Castle by Kamek and a small group of Koopatrols who were busy pointing at Mario and sniggering between themselves. Mario frowned at them and muttered something under his breath about 'getting back at them later'. Booigi gazed at everything in sight from the numerous Bowser statues to the hot, bubbling lava pits. You could never have too many lava pits it seemed.

Kamek practically skipped towards the door as the plumber and trembling Boo were dragged along behind him. He knocked on the door twice and didn't even flinch when Bowser snarled; "ENTER!" to those behind the door. Before the doors swung open, Kamek took the opportunity to deal a little bit of revenge against Mario and so tapped him with his wand, shocking the poor plumber.

"What did you do that for?" Booigi squeaked feeling utterly terrified now that they were very nearly within the terrible Koopa King's grasp. "He didn't do anything to you!" Kamek rolled his eyes and decided to shock the little Boo too, just to teach him a lesson. "You stupid, ignorant ghost you!" snapped Kamek. "You know nothing. Why don't you just crawl back underneath your gravestone and stay dead?"

Booigi couldn't come back with a worthy reply and looked almost close to tears. The Koopatrols from the other side pulled the doors open and admitted them into the main hall of Bowser's Castle. Mario dragged his feet, infuriating his guards whilst Booigi let himself be pulled along; he didn't want to get into any more trouble with these guys as well. At the far end of the room, he saw King Bowser sat upon his stone throne and when he saw his prisoners, his eyes gleamed and his face broke into a cruel smile. He stood up and stomped his way over towards them. Booigi couldn't take his eyes off Bowser's giant, spiky shell, each spike sharpened like swords and his vicious claws and fangs that looked ready to rip him in two. Booigi whimpered. Mario heard him but did not say anything.

Bowser looked Mario up and down then suddenly burst into laughter as did his minions, following his cue. Mario struggled against his chains; Booigi tried to turn invisible but sadly failed due to the chain's magical properties.

"Well, well, well," he laughed. "If it isn't my old adversary, Mario! So nice of you to drop in but you didn't have to bother calling though, because I shall be around your place shortly!" Mario clapped his hands in mock glee.

"Oh, let me see, what will you be doing today? Will you perhaps be trying to kidnap the Princess? Ooh, I don't know that one's a toughie. But in any case, your mission would be another failed one because I can count on my brother whereas you can't count on the full might of your army."

"Oh, believe me," said Bowser. "My plans for today are far juicer ones. And I wouldn't even need my army. I could pull off the job with just one and oh, it would be so sweet. Gwahahahaha!"

"And why would that be?" asked Mario innocently. Booigi sighed as he saw what was coming.

"Because I'd be using somebody else to pull off the dirty deed: Luigi obviously. He's the perfect scapegoat."

It was just as well that Bowser stood back sharpish because Mario suddenly saw red and launched himself at the great Koopa King. Booigi ended up being dragged halfway across the main hall, trailing behind Mario like a small balloon; the Koopatrols just ended up being dragged along the floor. Bowser retreated to the safety of his throne and stayed there until Mario ran out of puff.

"It's great being evil," said Bowser menacingly. "You don't even know whether I'm telling the truth or not."

"I don't need bloody proof," growled Mario. "Now get me out of these chains, get down here now and we'll fight one-on-one!"

"I hardly think that that would be a fair fight," Bowser whined. "I've gotta admit, you can hand me my shell six days out of seven. Not the other day though; I've gotta get lucky someday, right?"

"So why did you do it?" said Mario. "Why are you putting my brother through even more pain again?"

"Mario," said Booigi quietly, not wanting to raise his voice much due to his fear of Bowser. "I mentioned this to you already; I don't think Bowser did this. It was... somebody else. Somebody a bit closer to home." Bowser laughed while Mario stood there, confused.

"You see? Maybe you should listen to your little partner there. I certainly didn't do it. Why would I do such a terrible thing and put Luigi under the control of some villainous maniac guy again and oh, I don't know, take over the world or something?"

"IF YOU'RE SO INNOCENT, THEN HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE PLAN?" Mario yelled.

"Mario," said Booigi again. "You remember saying how you suspected Bowser from the very beginning?" Mario nodded. "Well, how come?"

Mario sighed. "Bowser was with us on this adventure not too long ago where we travelled between different dimensions, trying to locate these items called Pure Hearts in order to stop the Chaos Heart from destroying the entire universe. Count Bleck was controlling the Chaos Heart but there was somebody else who wanted it even more and for different purposes. That was Dimentio. He didn't want to destroy it, he wanted to control it for his own means and he didn't care who would be hurt on the way.

"He studied the Dark Prognosticus intensely and found out that Luigi's role was intertwined with that of the Chaos Heart. We were missing Luigi for ages and we were getting really worried as we found out that we needed four heroes to defeat the Chaos Heart. I... didn't even recognise him when he was being controlled by another being and when that business with the Chaos Heart happened... Well, we all saw it and how terrible it was. Even Bowser was worried for a while back there... but he has obviously gotten over that now and is using that to his own advantages despite everything!" He glared at Bowser and tried to attack him again.

"But there are other villains that have clearly got a grudge against you and Luigi," said the little Boo. "Think about it, Mario. I mentioned the Spear Guys but you automatically assumed that they couldn't belong to anyone else because Bowser occasionally employs them. But who said that the Spear Guys had to be real? Luigi was running for his life after all so there may have been some things that he missed. If he looked closely at them, he would have realised some slight differences." Booigi turned around, no longer able to look at Mario. "First, the Spear Guys would have looked slightly see-through, not all together there. Secondly, their eyes would not have been entirely hidden by the masks that they all permanently wear. He would have noticed the glint of red light behind the masks. And thirdly..."

Booigi halted for a moment, unsure of what to say. He looked at Mario and knew that he was betraying King Boo by telling him all of this. Booigi didn't actually have concrete evidence over who was the true perpetrator but to him, there was no doubt about it. He knew that Mario would be angry with him, thinking of him as nothing but a spy for King Boo. And he would be right but Booigi didn't want that.

"There is no thirdly," continued Booigi sadly. "All you need to really know is that those Spear Guys are in fact Boos. They work for King Boo. I'm technically supposed to, as a matter of fact."

Mario clenched his fists and began shaking.

"So," he said through gritted teeth. "He's back again, is he?"

Booigi nodded. "He was still trapped in that painting until two months ago. Some of his most loyal supporters vowed to retrieve the painting and bring the King back from it but they didn't quite know how to go about it. They then turned to me because I happened to know of the machine that made him into a painting in the first place. I read a lot of stuff, you see. Just because Boos use magic, doesn't mean that we don't know anything about science.

"I suppose you won't believe me after all this but I refused to have anything to do with it. I hate King Boo, he hates me and I haven't had a good a reason as to why. He's just raised me up after a certain... incident some years ago and I suppose I should be grateful for that. But they wanted him back and they forced me to go with them to the place where the machine was being kept. They stole the painting in the dead of the night after I distracted the security system. I didn't need to really because your professor friend was still asleep there. Then we took the painting to the room and... reversed the controls on it. So King Boo returned and immediately began plotting against the two of you. Especially Luigi..."

"Except," Bowser snarled. "He sent somebody into my castle and stole some very important papers. He also stole this very valuable potion that we were going to use. You're half-right, Mario. I came up with the whole idea thing based on that whole adventure we had and I was planning to use the thing that Kamek made, the Possession Poison. But like I said, it was stolen. So although I was going to use your brother for spectacular world domination purposes, I, er, didn't actually get the chance to do so. You didn't steal it, did you?"

"I didn't. But I really don't know about that part."

Booigi watched Mario look at the both of them and visibly flinched from the look of pure venom that he shot them. Mario attempted to say something but the words couldn't come out. He stayed silent; his actions spoke louder than his words. Booigi floated over to him.

"Mario," whispered Booigi, his voice trembling with fear. "I'm sorry. But I swear, I didn't know that this was going to happen until-"

Mario violently shook him off. The trust he had had was now broken. He was distraught.

Bowser was of course, delighted with this whole spectacle. It also reminded him the reason why he didn't take on so many Boos in his employment. Sneaky little devils. You couldn't trust them an inch. He waved a command at his Koopatrols who exited the room without Mario noticing. He then pulled a lever at the side of his throne. A steel gate opened shakily, revealing something previously hidden in the shadows. It stepped out, its stomach growling viciously. Mario looked up and expressed surprise when he finally recognised what the creature was.

"C-can't s- stand it! The hunger- the HUNGER!" it snarled. Booigi stared at it and fainted.

Mario looked the creature up and down. It was certainly a hell of a lot bigger than he last saw it although why Bowser had brought it into his castle, the stars only knew. It looked a lot more powerful too... and hungrier if that was possible.

"Belome," Mario stated, remembering the strange, four-eyed creature from an adventure a long time ago. The creature licked its fangs with a long, red tongue upon hearing its name. "Well, everything seems to be coming out of the woodworks now." He glanced at the silent Boo on the floor beside him. "I doubt you're going to be much use against him, I can't even move properly anyway." _Where's Mallow and Geno when you need them?_

"You. I remember you. I remember being hungry back then too. Did I taste you? What do you taste like? I'm so hungry... My belly must be fed..."

Mario jerked backwards, only slightly out of reach of the long tongue that suddenly shot out. Belome shuffled forwards and sniffed the air, blinking all the time.

"It's too hot in here. I miss my old sewers. It was cool there... and peaceful. And there was food..."

"Look, if you just eat plumber guy here, you can have all the food you want!" replied Bowser. He caught Mario's eye and winked at him. "Bet you weren't expecting that, eh? I came across him a little while ago trying to raid the castle's larders. So, officially, he's my prisoner until this little deed is done. So go snack you strange thing you!"

"The little ghostie looks delicious, so delicious. I wonder if it will go well with the plumber... I must have food, food! FOOD! FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!"

Mario yelped and swung himself out of the way as Belome charged at him, surprisingly faster than expected. Booigi snapped awake and then tried to flee. Mario pulled the chain back down without looking up.

"If we both want to get out of here alive, we're going to have to work together," he whispered. "Although considering what was said earlier, I doubt that I am going to enjoy that. If you're lucky, we won't get to meet Tubba Blubba. And if you're really really lucky, you'll only get eaten twice."

* * *

Up in the fabled Star Haven, a Star exploded into infinitesimal pieces, bright at first, before fading into the blackest of blacks. The shockwaves were felt by every Star residing in the place. Then, in its stricken place, a Dark Star began to emerge, emitting evil of every kind. It moved slowly through Star Haven like a shadow, searching for chaos. Others felt the taint of evil nearby and fled from the area. The Star Spirits got together in a council and tried to assess the situation. They knew who caused this but why? This wasn't possible; he couldn't and wouldn't use dark magic after all. Somebody was using dark magic through _him._

Needless to say, they were deeply worried.


	10. The Trial: Part Two

**Hello readers; the answer to the riddle was NOTHING as correctly answered by Flame-Wiz27. Thanks for reading everybody! P.S Don't expect the law to be accurate as I don't do law; think of it as Mushroom Kingdom law. :)**

* * *

**Chapter 10: The Trial- Part 2**

_Luigi clambered down the ladder of the well, thankful that there weren't any ghosts about in his vicinity. He had had enough of the spectres flying out at him; some threw bombs while others just bared fangs; cackling madly the whole time as they tried to steal that life essence that they were sorely lacking themselves. Luigi shivered at the thought of the ghastly, bone-chilling hands wrapped round his throat whilst he was slowly being backed into a shadowy corner, seemingly falling into their trap again. Thanks heavens for the Poltergust 3000 that rested heavily on his back; he didn't think he would be able to go through the Mansion without it. After all, if his brother couldn't fight against them using physical means… well…_

_Just what was it that the Toad in the garden shed was crying about? His words came out all garbled and spluttered and Luigi couldn't get another word out of him; the only information he managed to gleam from him was a pointed direction; down the well to goodness knows where._

_A single light bulb hung above his head, swinging as even the wind whistled down here where it was supposed to be more sheltered, seeking out warm-blooded bodies but compared to being outside, Luigi was positively toasty. Luigi breathed heavily; apart from the whistling sound of the wind, it seemed so quiet down here. Almost too quiet… Luigi hid a nervous chuckle, it wasn't that he minded the quiet but after encountering so many spectres before; he couldn't help but think that there was one lurking behind the stone wall or something like that._

_There was a light up ahead, at the end of the dark corridor bringing Luigi some sort of relief; none of the ghosts stayed for long in a lit room apart from the Boos and then, it tended to be only one per room which was more than enough for him. Luigi crouched down and grasped the bars in front of him and peered through the small space that was given to him; the light seemed to be coming through a stone figurehead._

_He gazed around the hidden room and took in all of its features; its low ceiling, its smoky candles, the dangling chandelier and… wait, King Boo! He touched his gleaming ruby crown with embedded jewels as he admired one of his favourite and most beloved paintings. Or rather, he was talking to it, laughing manically, sharing a joke perhaps or discussing malevolent plans, mocking the figure that it held._

_Luigi looked closer; his heart thudded against his ribcage painfully._

_It couldn't be… Mario?_

_Oh, stars above, what had they done to him?_

_Mario…_

_Luigi shook all over without even realising it as he stared at his brother trapped behind the painting, being tortured no doubt by the malicious spectre that was King Boo, forcibly held against his will. There was no chance of him attempting to break free; it was impossible, King Boo knew this and he revelled in the joy of this knowledge and cackled all the more. Why, the plan was simply a masterpiece; no doubt the green-hatted, cowardly sidekick of a brother would try to rescue his dearly beloved sibling but to do that, he would have to contend with the Mansion's minor ghosts and the more durable Portrait ghosts then come to face to face with his most loyal and trusted minions, his fellow Boos. The infuriating, mortal human would be delivered to him in some way or another, dead or alive, he didn't really care which. And then he would have another painting to add to his collection._

_Mario thumped the glass of the painting and threw himself against it despite knowing that all his efforts were effectively useless. He then caught from the corner of his eye his little brother, hiding from King Boo's sight; not that he would notice him anyway, he was too busy acting the triumphant monarch, but he was unable to come any closer and he saw the pain in his eyes. So near and yet so far…_

_Luigi heard his brother franticly whisper: "Get me out of here!" He saw that King Boo was enjoying every moment of this spectacle. He gave Mario one last look before turning back again, safely out of King Boo's presence. _

_Now he knew why the Toad had been so upset; especially as the Toad could do nothing about it, having neither the means nor the strength. The others had begged Luigi to do what he could and they pledged their thanks to him which he knew wouldn't last long once this was all over._

_Could he do it though? That was the question. Had he enough courage to continue with his task? As Luigi wandered along the corridor, deep in thought, a Purple Bomber suddenly appeared, surprising him. Fearing that the sound of the spook would carry back to King Boo, Luigi quickly used the Poltergust 3000 to suck it into oblivion; it provided little resistance._

_Luigi picked up the shining key that it dropped and saw his face staring back at him. He closed his eyes and saw Mario trapped in the painting, unable to escape his prison. Could he save his brother? Luigi closed his fist around the key and looked up; his face a mask of determination. Everybody was counting on him and Luigi wanted to prove to Mario that he could depend on him every time, lack of bravery or not._

* * *

Luigi slowly opened his eyes with the hope and expectation of being elsewhere; anywhere else but here. He stared at the blocky ceiling hanging above him and to his dismay, realised that he was still in his holding cell. Luigi heard his stomach rumble and glanced at the plate of cold, untouched food that had been pushed into the corner. He rolled over onto his front on the hard bed and shivered with the lack of proper blankets; at a time like this, he couldn't face the idea of eating.

The sounds of the shouting, protesting prisoners echoed down the corridor and rang in Luigi's cell loudly enough for him to get the impression of what they were talking about. He was glad that he had been brought in unconscious although when they finally brought him out for trial, Luigi would have to tread that same path again and contend with everybody staring at him. He sighed, got up from the bed and began to pace up and down the floor again, clearly restless.

He wondered what would happen to him and whether the Princess would turn up to give him moral support... or see him damned. He gulped with fear at this thought; he and Mario were unofficially her diplomats and while it was common knowledge that Mario was her favourite, he assumed that Peach would have some feelings for him over this case if only for the sake of his brother. Luigi hoped that she would see things from a different perspective and overlook the obvious signs that seemed to indicate his guilt. Granted, Luigi couldn't deny not even to himself that he had tried to destroy the Star Temple but there were other factors concerning him. Besides...

He was scared.

Luigi wanted Mario to be able to depend on him no matter what and while he was away, trying to find the cure to the dark potion magic that had afflicted Luigi, he had managed to get himself arrested for attempted destruction of a highly important structure.

It had not been a good week.

The door clanked open, viciously as Inspector Banks had to kick the rusting thing open; they really needed to put some oil on it. He also had a couple of the robotic Police Guards with him for safety's sake. Luigi, who was gazing outside the window where it was dull and grey, didn't bother turning around just in case Peach was standing there.

"They're ready for you now, Mr Luigi," said Banks solemnly. "And we're gonna get this thing over and done with quickly."

Luigi turned around and almost sighed with relief upon not seeing the Princess there. Oh, stars above, he felt so ashamed; how did he manage to end up in this situation? What had he done to deserve this? Oh yeah, because he was the enemy of Bowser, King Boo and everybody else who felt like taking over the Mushroom Kingdom. Didn't this Toad in front of him appreciate what he and Mario did for them? But Luigi had to accept that it was only procedure; that he had to go through with this. He held out his hands in front of him. Banks looked on suspiciously as if this was some sort of trick.

"Well?" asked Luigi. "You're not going to let me go unchained are you?"

"Of course not!" Banks snapped before placing Luigi's hands behind his back and pulling out his special pair of handcuffs. "These make sure that you do none of that funny business; that magic of yours." Luigi winced as the metal bit into his skin but did not say anything as he was shoved out of his cell and directed down the corridor (ignoring the strange and bewildered looks of everybody he passed), outside and to the waiting police van.

He sat uncomfortably in the back as the van drove over just about every bump and pothole in the road. He could feel himself getting more nervous with every passing second. It reminded him of how Mario must have felt when he was apprehended by the Piantas in Isle Delfino and wrongly accused of polluting the island with graffiti. So much for that holiday, Luigi had to smile to himself.

In what seemed like no time at all, Luigi was bundled out of the back and taken into the Court House. They hurried along to the room where everybody was waiting with Banks muttering under his breath about being late. Luigi, needing something to take his mind off the unfurling event, admired the many paintings that they passed. Shame he didn't get the chance to look at them properly.

Finally, they stood before the grand doors of only the biggest courtroom in the place. Luigi remembered that the paparazzi were not allowed in here under any circumstances and he thanked the stars for small mercies.

"Well, Mr Luigi," said Banks. "Are you ready?"

"No," said Luigi, trembling slightly.

"Tough luck."

The doors were swung open and a bright light hit Luigi. He heard a sudden gasp from the entire Court and walked in, unsure of what was going to happen next.

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T DO MAGIC?" Mario yelled as they ran for their lives from the ravenous Belome; both were still unable to attack after all.

Booigi shrugged in the Booish way which meant lifting his hands up several times except that this was somewhat difficult when you were being half-dragged along in trying to get to safety. "I don't know," he said. "I've just never been able to do magic properly. I mean, I can turn invisible but that's about it really. The King doesn't really like me very much for that either; he reckons that I'm a failure." Booigi sighed. "And he's right too: I am a failure. A complete failure."

Mario tried not to take pity on the little Boo as he was still quietly seething from the earlier revelation about King Boo and the fact that he had been sent to spy on them and the only reason that King Boo wasn't sitting in his Mansion reading through paperwork about was because Booigi hadn't had a great deal of time to observe them. Mario shook his head; he wasn't quite entirely sure as to why Luigi had taken to this Boo as he was normally terrified of ghosts and with good reason. He could be too trusting at times, he supposed. However, he couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for him; it was in his kind nature to do so.

"Nobody's a complete failure," he said. "But nobody's perfect either. In any case, you have to focus on the positive, not the negatives. Maybe you're looking at it the wrong way; there was something that Luigi told me..."

"Will you quit running about, Mario and get chomped on already?" roared Bowser, quickly losing his patience. "I'm on a schedule for evil here!"

Belome stomped the floor beneath them causing it to crack and the walls to shake. Mario covered his ears as the dread monster started singing an eerie melody. Booigi listened, entranced and watched the pretty notes float up and up towards the ceiling. Quicker than expected, he then took a striking swipe at Mario. Mario fell, winded but not badly hurt but he rolled aside before Belome attempted to crush him and gritted his teeth as the chain scraped against him while Booigi tried to flee in another direction. Mario began to charge up a fireball, ready to throw straight into the monster's mouth. However, it was in this moment in time when he was vulnerable to attack and he didn't notice a grinning Bowser throw a Bob-omb in his direction.

"AHHHHHH!" Mario yelled as the projectile suddenly went BOOM! His fireball flashed out of existence and he was thrown backwards with the force of the blast. Belome took the opportunity to sing his Lulla-Bye again and this time, Mario caught the notes and began feeling woozy. Booigi picked himself up off the floor and tried to grab Mario's attention. Bowser threw another Bob-omb at them just to liven things up.

"This sure is a blast eh, Mario?" Bowser laughed. "You're gonna be having an explosive time!"

_"Mamma mia,"_ Mario groaned not only at the bad pun but as he tried to light another fireball and found that he couldn't do so. "I can't use my special attacks! Damn!"

"Soon you will go," said Belome slowly as it closed in on the pair. "Then I can go. I don't like it here; it's not like the Kero Sewers. I like it there."

"We need to break this chain, Mario," said Booigi. He stayed in one spot, scared stiff by all four eyes of Belome staring at him, thinking that he was some sort of tasty treat. Mario grabbed Booigi before he had time to protest and jumped on Belome's head as hard as he could and heard a satisfying thud of boots against skull. Belome screamed and roared his disdain. Mario launched himself at Belome again and made another successful hit. He was not as lucky the third time round as Belome leapt up at the same time as Mario and sank his teeth into his leg. Belome then threw Mario off him and the plumber landed heavily on his front. Using what strength he had, Booigi floated upwards, taking Mario with him out of the reach of Belome. Bowser was not amused.

"Hey, you sneaky ghost! Stop cheating and get back down here. NOW!"

"How am I cheating?" questioned Booigi as he struggled to stay in the air.

"You're cheating me of my fun, that's how!" Bowser growled. "Drop him down now or I'll have roasted, toasted Boo for breakfast!"

Booigi swerved to one side as Bowser threw a larger Bob-omb at him followed by an angry-looking Bullet Bill that headed straight for him with gleaming red eyes. Fortunately as Booigi moved again, the Bullet Bill did not as it was very slow at turning and it smashed into the wall, exploding. Booigi drifted to the ground again; he couldn't hold up Mario's weight for long.

"Hey, you're bleeding," said Booigi, noticing the red staining the lower part of Mario's overalls. Mario grinned, saying that he had suffered worse. Booigi remembered Luigi saying something along similar lines. "What was it you were going to say earlier, anyway? About my magic?"

Mario frowned for a moment before the words suddenly came to his mind. _"'Mysteries appear wherever people turn but turning away from them solves nothing. Instead of turning away, turn to the side and look at the mystery from a different view. A way will surely open.' _So you see; if you don't worry yourself in trying to do magic, maybe it will come to you."

"Yeah..." said Booigi, more to himself than Mario. "Maybe it will..."

"And now would be a rather good time," said Mario as he tried to produce another fireball, hoping that the magical effects of the Lulla-Bye had worn off.

"You can't escape," said Belome. "I can't escape. We are all trapped."

"The way I see it, not for long," said Mario and he released a barrage of flame that struck Belome like a hammer blow, ferociously burning him with the heat of a volcano. Belome became absolutely furious and he immediately set all four eyes on what he assumed to be an easier target. Without warning, he stuck out his tongue and swallowed Booigi whole, snapping the chain in the progress. Belome licked his lips with satisfaction.

"Mm, tastes like ice-cream," he said slowly, savouring the delicious Boo. Mario winced as he heard the screaming from inside Belome but on the other hand, it would now be easier to defeat the monster without having to watch the back of someone else. Bowser grunted; pleased that one of his victims had gone down although he wouldn't be happy until Mario had also been devoured. Maybe he should have had him served up on a platter…

* * *

"Order! I shall have order in this court!" screamed the Judge over the tumultuous racket of the jury and the lawyers in uproar. It was clear what they were arguing about but this was a legal matter and they had to get down to business.

Luigi groaned as he felt all the eyes staring at him. He then looked up and saw Princess Peach and Toadsworth enter the courtroom; feeling that this couldn't get any worse. Well, it could but Luigi didn't want to jinx that. He kept his gaze away from her Highness and waited for calm to descend when it finally happened. For a long while, there was an uncomfortable silence before the Judge (who happened to have resided over Mario's trial) banged her hammer against the stand, announcing "Court is now in session!" The Prosecutor, an aged Koopa, then stood up and cleared his throat.

"Members of the Court. We have now brought forth the defendant, Luigi Mario, who is charged with the serious matter of felony murder and arson. The jury here today is asked to weigh up the evidence and assess the fate of the young gentleman. We ask you to be silent when the evidence is being given out so that you can deliver a proper verdict."

"Luigi Mario," said the Judge solemnly. "You are hereby ordered to tell the truth, the truth and nothing but the truth to this court! Is that clear?"

Luigi gulped and answered: "Yes, your honour."

"The question is, your honour, whether Luigi actually committed this heinous crime," stated the Lawyer present, a Toadette named Jolene. "Considering his past and established character, I would be inclined to say that he is innocent of this matter as I am sure many people in here are questioning amongst themselves how Luigi is charged with such a thing." The jury muttered amongst themselves, proving Jolene correct. Princess Peach looked worried as did Toadsworth and both of them tried to catch Luigi's eye if only for a moment. He kept looking straight ahead, standing upright with his hands chained still.

"The law clearly states that the defendant is innocent until proven guilty and every other criminal is allowed to sit down without the accompaniment of chains," said Peach softly. "This is provided that they are next to a law-enforcer so why is Luigi still handcuffed?" Luigi suddenly realised how having his arms forced behind his back was suddenly paining him and he gave the Judge a nod. But the Pianta shook her head and talked about 'exceptional circumstances'. Did this mean that Luigi's number was against him already?

"Exactly who is he supposed to have murdered?" asked Jolene. Luigi visibly flinched at such a word. "Do we have any witnesses to such a cause? This is something that we cannot take lightly after all and this is something that I highly doubt in the case of a person like Luigi."

"Do we have any witnesses in the Court?" asked the Judge looking about the room. Chief Inspector Banks stood up and said that he was indeed a witness. Luigi's eyes narrowed as Banks walked to the middle of the room, in between where the Judge sat and the defendant box in which Luigi was currently barricaded. Somehow, to Luigi, there seemed to be something not quite right about him...

"Do you swear to tell the complete truth?" said the Judge. Banks nodded. "Make sure you get every word of this down," she whispered to the Court Clerk sat beside her. The yellow-spotted Toad nodded although he had already been writing feverishly; his nose was blotted with blue ink. Banks strode about the space as if he owned it before he began to recite his tale.

"The event took place upon the 6th of Eldstar's month, your honour," he began. "I had been making my rounds around the town as usual and everything was quiet as it normally is. I was walking near the front gates of Toad Town which, as you know, are closed at 10:00 at night and not opened again until 5:00 in the morning. The path to the gates runs past the guardhouses of Princess Peach's Castle." He gave a nod of acknowledgement to Peach and carried on. "The guard by the name of Toasty spotted me as I walked by and called out to say hello so I can vouch for my whereabouts on that night, your honour. By the gates, I suddenly noticed a peculiar smell that was exactly like that of burning. I followed the scent and hurried along as fast as I could, realising that it was getting terribly strong. I kept close to the town walls and I was heading out to the outskirts of Toad Town; as an officer, I know exactly where I am going in town and up ahead was the fabled Star Temple. At first, I didn't think much of it because it has been recorded by generations past that normal fire cannot harm the Star Temple at all so I assumed that this was nothing in particular. But then, bright green flames whooshed upwards and the temple was suddenly ablaze in its entirety before my eyes. Pieces of the temple started to crumble and the Trees of Prophecy blackened and shrivelled with the intensity of the heat. Some were struck by blue lightning and lightning of a similar colour that came out of the flames. I tried to get closer but I was taken aback by the flames although I was close enough to notice a figure standing before the temple entrance, illuminated by the green fire, his hands were burning with the very same flames and there could be no mistaking who it was." He pointed at the moustachioed plumber with a pose as dramatic as that of Doctor Toadley. "It was Luigi!"

The jury (including Peach and Toadsworth) were in uproar again, shouting out all kinds of exclamations concerning Luigi's innocence and the absurdity of this case. Luigi almost smiled; they were on his side after all. The Judge had to bang her hammer again to gain attention.

"At what time did you make the discovery of the crime?" questioned the Koopa Prosecutor.

"Around 3:30 in the morning, sir," said Banks.

The old Koopa checked his notes before him and peered through his glasses. "Then how come you didn't take him immediately into custody for in an earlier statement, you quoted that you had taken Luigi in at approximately 6:43 in the morning? You did wish to pull off your duty as soon as possible, correct?"

"Of course I did, sir," said Banks respectfully. "And I would have done without any hesitation, sir. However, upon discovery, Luigi then turned around and noticed me and he wished to keep me silent, sir. He viciously attacked me without warning and I was knocked out cold, sir. I would have used the assistance of the robotic Police Guards if I had been given the chance, sir. Alas, as I have mentioned, he did attack me and I was quite unable to defend myself against him for he is a lot stronger than me, sir, and I am sure that you will agree, he is stronger than anybody else in the Court at the moment, sir." The jury knew that this was true at any rate. "It is most unfortunate, sir but I do have the marks to prove it!"

The jury gasped as Banks rolled up his sleeves and revealed large, shining black burn marks that seemed to have been scattered over his chest too but were hidden from view. Luigi struggled to get out of the box; he was sure that Banks did not have any wounds when he was arresting him but he was forced back by the robotic Police Guards while shouting: "I NEVER DID SUCH A THING! HE'S LYING!"

"Luigi Mario," said the Pianta Judge in a cold voice. "You are currently in no position to shout out any demands so you would do yourself justice to keep silent unless spoken to!"

"When I came round," continued Banks once Luigi had been subdued. "I walked about the Temple Grounds surveying the damage when I came across Luigi lying on the grass as if he had knocked himself out which I deemed very lucky. I immediately summoned help and as soon as it arrived, we brought him into custody."

"But it was dark and there was fire everywhere when you got to the Star Temple!" cried Princess Peach. "How can you be so sure that it was Luigi who attacked you?" Luigi's eyes blazed with a similar question. If only he could remember exactly what had happened...

"Your Highness, I would do well to remember exactly who my attacker was," said Banks lightly. "Besides, he is a very recognisable figure, is he not? As you know yourself, your Highness, fire magic is a rare art and I am quite convinced that only select individuals can learn this art. The magic also corresponds to that of the individual's preferred colour which in Luigi's case, is green. And as I stated earlier, I saw bolts of electricity flashing through the fire and as far as we know, Luigi is the only known person able to mix both magics with such expertise, isn't that so Luigi?" Luigi said nothing; his heart pounded horribly fast inside of him.

"As you say yourself, Banks," said Jolene. "'As far as we know'. Other practitioners of elemental magic may also possess this talent; I daresay some Magikoopas may know of this, particularly those who support Bowser's cause."

"Nevertheless, it is somewhat curious that Luigi should be around this area when the blaze started and lightning kept striking the same place twice. It is too much of a coincidence to think otherwise."

"Luigi Mario, is it true that you are able to not only use the elements of fire and lightning but are also able to fuse both of the magics together to create new magic?" the Judge wondered, rather curious of such powers. "If so, please show the Court this as evidence."

"If you will pardon me, your honour," said Luigi quietly. "I cannot do anything at the moment; these handcuffs stop me from doing such things."

"Release him, Banks."

Banks unlocked the handcuffs freeing Luigi temporarily. He rubbed his wrists, feeling them ache. He trembled with fear, knowing that this would probably damn him. Peach felt this as well as she had a good idea of Luigi's powers although she had not witnessed this particular one so despite herself, she too was curious. Luigi stared at his palms and saw one solitary spark jump across them. He still couldn't believe what he had done but...

"We are waiting, Luigi Mario," said the Judge severely.

Luigi jolted and stood up straight. Concentrating, he formed a ball with his hands and willed the energy to travel down them; he felt a hot, tingling sensation as he did so. Sure enough, once he had built up enough power, a bright green fireball slowly began to form, spinning quickly as it tried to escape his grasp. Then, Luigi allowed the second of his energies to travel downwards; this time, he felt several cold sparks racing down his veins as he used the power of thunder. The centre of the fireball became a tightly compacted sphere of bright blue lightning bolts while some sparks also jumped about on the outside; they reflected the colour of his eyes. Before the power got too much for him; Luigi released the electro-fireball, creating a vortex of electrifying fire more powerful than he or anybody else expected. The roof nearly caught fire. It was several minutes before the roar of the attack died down. Luigi nearly died of embarrassment.

"Sorry..." he whispered.

The jury murmured amongst themselves and passed along notes. The Koopa Prosecutor leant back in his chair and smiled.

"Impressive," he said.

Banks quickly snapped the handcuffs back on Luigi as if he feared another blast of flame.

The Judge banged the stand, jolting everybody into silence. "Impressive?" she snorted. "Yes, it is but the more impressive it is, the more serious the matter! This seems to be going against you, Luigi Mario..."

"Can you seriously just take the word of Banks here as evidence?" Luigi cried. "Do you actually have visual evidence?" He then quailed under her hard stare. "Sorry, not supposed to talk. Forgot."

"That remains to be seen," said the Pianta severely. "Along with any other visual evidence."

"You still haven't told us who he is supposed to have murdered!" snapped Jolene, brushing her pink pigtails angrily.

"Do you happen to have the answer to that one, Banks?" questioned the Koopa Prosecutor. Banks nodded and took his position on the floor again.

"The power of the Star Temple is linked with that of the Stars in Star Haven, perhaps even that of the Star Spirits themselves. As such, any damage done to them causes damage to the Star Temple and vice versa. As you have gathered, the Star Temple was almost completely destroyed by the fire and I am sure that if Luigi had a little more time, it would have been fully destroyed. It is recorded in the old ledgers of the Stars though, that should a most powerful building; a channeler of their energy, such as this one be attacked with dark, fiery magic of the most destructive kind; then one of the Stars will perish and be replaced by a Dark Star." Banks looked grave. "Looking at this, although I cannot be completely sure of course, such wrought violence may well have destroyed one of the Star Spirits themselves and yes, created a Dark Star Spirit."

"And we know just what a Dark Star is capable of..." mumbled Toadsworth, sat beside the Princess. "They are capable of very strong evil indeed and they will not stop at anything to achieve their goals unless they are vanquished by a being of good heart. One can only assume that the power of a Dark Star Spirit would be greater still. However... I simply refuse to believe that Master Luigi would do such a thing!"

"He would need motive to do such a thing after all," said Peach. "Nobody could destroy the Star Temple without the intention of doing so. What sort of motive would Luigi have to have to do that?" She finally caught Luigi's eye and gave him a kindly smile. Luigi felt his muscles lose some of their tension..

"Precisely," said Jolene, somewhat relieved. "What do you say to that?"

Banks stroked his beard whilst thinking. What indeed would be the motive? His eyes lit up when he thought of something suitable. "Why," he began turning to look at Luigi. "Isn't it always Mario that grabs the attention, the limelight, leaving you to be pushed aside and ignored, forgotten, as if nobody cares about you? The fact that you try to pull off your utmost duty to the Kingdom and yet it always seems to be in vain? What if you were given a better kind of offer; one that would allow you to take the position that you truly deserve and hold all that power? In the meantime, a certain villain could also grab a good deal. He hadn't bothered with you much before because his focus was mainly on Mario. However, if you worked for him, both of you could get you wanted. You could release the Dark Star to destroy the Kingdom... and destroy your brother. Nobody would then stand in your way." Banks seemed unperturbed by the massive amount of noise that suddenly arose around them; Peach's voice was the loudest. Luigi simply stood there in shock. "It is the only way..." Banks whispered. Only Luigi heard him.

"FOR THE LAST TIME!" the Pianta Judge screeched. "I WILL HAVE ORDER IN THIS COURT AND I WILL KEEP ORDER IN THIS COURT!"

"Absolutely preposterous!" Toadsworth shouted. "Simply outrageous! I'll have you know, sir, that that statement is the biggest load of tosh I have ever heard! Do you really expect us to believe such an accusation?"

"What else would you have me suggest, sir?" asked Banks once the noise had died down. "Unless you can think of any other motives?"

"I CANNOT THINK OF ANY!"

"How can you think that I would hurt my own brother?" Luigi whispered, his eyes shining, his voice shaking. "My own brother... I love him... and yet you think I could kill him..." He hung his head. "That I could kill all of you..."

Even the Judge looked troubled; Luigi sounded and looked very sincere. "Perhaps it is a little too far-fetched-"

"Not too long ago," Banks interrupted. "There was a large void in the sky that threatened to eat up the entire planet. You, Mario and her Highness had all but vanished. According to reports, so had the Koopa King Bowser. What was it that you were all doing exactly?"

_What is he getting at?_ "We were all searching for the Pure Hearts that would put a stop to the Void that would destroy all worlds and to defeat the man behind it all." said Peach. "We also required four heroes; one of them was Luigi although we had been missing him for some time. Eventually, we found out that he was-" She put her hands over her mouth when she realised what she said. Banks nodded.

"'He had been missing for some time.' That is somewhat curious. You found out that he was... what?" asked Banks. "That he was working for the dark side of his own accordance? That he was in the service of such a villain?"

"It wasn't his fault!" Peach cried out over the increasing noise. Luigi stared at her; having pretty much no idea what she was talking about. "He would never do such a thing of his own will! He was hypnotised into working for them!"

_Hypnotised?_ Luigi thought. _What does she mean? What did I do? Did I... hurt any of them? What happened?_

"Surely though, he could have fought against them even if he was hypnotised, as you say. We heard that he had tried to seriously harm you, Mario and the Koopa King. If he was strong enough, that surely wouldn't have happened," said Banks. "Perhaps, the reason being is that he wanted to hurt you..."

"NO!" she said strongly. "That's not true! There was nothing that Luigi could do; nothing that any of us could do; not even Mario."

_There was something. I'm sure of it. It was when we were finding the Pure Hearts wasn't it? But I can't remember. I can't remember anything..._

"Obviously, you hadn't seen him for a while but there was something that happened in Toad Town while you were away," said Banks. "One day, when we had all noticed the continuing growth of that terrible Void; a dark, shadowy figure crept into the town unnoticed. I happened to be on my rounds that day when I suddenly heard a commotion coming from the Star Vault; that was the place where the Dark Star was kept before it was destroyed by the Mario Brothers of course," he said lightly. "He wore a similar garb to what Luigi is wearing now; only black and with a shadowy eye-mask. He was so close to taking that Dark Star; goodness knows what he wanted with it when the entire universe was going to ruin but he was caught in the act and fled; fearing that I would bring allies to the fight. And yet, I discovered three bodies of the Koopa Guards. All three of them were dead." Peach gasped, covering her mouth. "If he could do that then; I'm pretty sure that he could also do that now. I'm telling you he is guilty!"

_And now, I may be doing it again, this time through Possession Poison. Always reliving the past. So that's part of what happened, huh? I was never told... but I suppose Mario and the Princess wanted to forget about it. They didn't want to burden me with this. But... now it's happening again; I suppose I'll remember soon enough. And... I hurt them, didn't I? I hurt them so much... _

"Come now, you're distressing the Princess," said Toadsworth sharply; his voice carried loudly in the otherwise deadly silent room. "I do not seem to recall such a person entering Toad Town. I would have assumed that the news would become known in a short space of time. Three dead people do not go unnoticed here after all!"

"Nevertheless..." whispered Banks. "That is what happened."

The sun came out briefly from behind the clouds and its light shone into the room. Inspector Banks discreetly stepped out of the way of the light streaming through the window. Luigi noticed this and felt his suspicions rise.

"Is there anything more to say about this?" asked the Pianta Judge. "If not, then this case is finished and we shall deliver a verdict. Guilty? Or not guilty?"

"Is this case over yet? It is not."

"Toadley!" Luigi cried out happily as the mystical doctor strode confidently into the Courtroom. His star-pocked cloak swirled about him in a suitably mystic manner as he stood in front of the box that Luigi was standing in. Doctor Toadley gave him a wink.

"Don't worry, lad. I'll help you in this one or my name's not Doctor Toadley! Which it is."

* * *

**I think I better bring this chapter to an end now and conclude it in the next part. To Donna, it was Super Paper Mario where one of the brothers was turned against the other; the Fawful business was in Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. What do you think of this so far? I appreciate all of your reviews. See you next time!**

**P.S Another riddle: What can be heard but makes no sound? (Hopefully, there should only be one answer to this, I'm looking for something very specific since I made it up!)**


	11. The Trial: Part Three

**Hello again! I'll bring the trial to a conclusion in this chapter so we can move on a bit. The answer to the riddle is: THOUGHT. After all, we sometimes say that we cannot hear ourselves think but it doesn't actually make a sound…**

* * *

**Chapter 11: The Trial- Part 3**

It was fortunate for Luigi that the good if slightly strange doctor turned up when he did or else the verdict could have very easily gone the negative way despite any protestations that the Princess and her loyal steward may have had, for the words of the respected Chief Inspector Banks had a somewhat profound effect on the jury. Of course, there were still some disbelievers and naysayers but as far as the evidence went; it all seemed to be rather detailed and accurate. And yes, they did remember some kind of disturbance a while back and rumours had sneaked their way around as rumours do.

Could it be that Luigi was not all as he seemed to be? True, he always pledged to save the Mushroom Kingdom and its people but the reasoning; the motive for the crime suggested by Banks was not entirely crazy. There was jealously between any pair of brothers but this may have been taken to extreme levels. It was in Luigi's jurisdiction to do so after all; as Banks had said earlier, he was stronger than anybody else in the room and things could soon turn nasty.

It seemed that the words of Banks were poisoning the majority of the people attending the trial; they were quite unsure of what to think. For those who still eagerly defended their green-clad protector, they were ashamed at any possible thoughts that their more gullible neighbours may have been having. How, they wondered, was all this going to end?

Without much care for any kind of protocol or tradition, Doctor Toadley strode over to the Lawyer, quite aware of the faces following him although he didn't mind; he was there to be noticed after all. He took a quick glance at the papers in front of her and shook his head quite sadly. A whispered discussion took place for he knew that Jolene was on Luigi's side and besides, he knew her well having cured her father of some horrible disease a while back.

Once he queried what he had wished to query, he took up his position next to Luigi again who looked at him with sincere relief. Doctor Toadley sat back with all the ease that he could muster and placed on the desk in front of him, his little bag of tricks; full of papers and other peculiarities. Toadley's presence was certainly unexpected but Luigi was all the more grateful, feeling that he had been plucked from the Jaws of Death. (Not that they would give him the death penalty surely? They wouldn't… if they reached a guilty verdict… they couldn't… could they? Otherwise, what would all of those sacrifices been for? All that he had done…)

The Pianta Judge peered suspiciously at the famous or possibly infamous Doctor Toadley. "Well," she said, somewhat vexed at this trying case. "This is certainly unprecedented. I do not wish for any further interruptions today and if everybody is happy enough to comply with this simple request, then I too, shall be happy. Tell me, Doctor Toadley; this trial has only just recently begun and as you should be aware of, the media are refused access into these inner courts. If you would be so _bold_," she said, placing particular stress on her words. "How did you know about today's occurrences and on our whereabouts? Particularly that of the presence of Mr Luigi Mario here?"

Doctor Toadley pushed his half-moon spectacles up on the bridge of his nose and without answering her at first, clicked open his bag and began rummaging about in it. After a minute of silence, the jury began to whisper to each other again, bemused by the sudden appearance of the mystical medic. At last, Doctor Toadley found what he was looking for and took out his beloved Crystal Ball, placing it on a small stand so that it would not roll off the sloping desk and shatter. He would cry if that ever happened. Luigi would have grinned if the situation wasn't so serious. He gazed upon the shiny clear surface of the ball and saw his stressed, distraught face staring back at him, reflecting the trials that he had suffered in recent times including the one that he had experienced at the hands of the notorious King Boo (of which he could only remember through his dream). He shuddered and attempted to rub his temples but remembered that he was still handcuffed. Everything was getting on top of him nowadays.

"Do I know of today's occurrences? I am not particularly sure but I will do soon enough, for is there anything I don't know? No. The answer to that is no," said Doctor Toadley in that curious manner of his. "I have only a little knowledge of that from what I can gleam from this." He patted the Crystal Ball fondly which only incited the Pianta's rage further.

"Have you been spying on us?" she demanded. "Doctor Toadley, this is dreadfully uncalled for at what I may deem to be the most important court case of the year and perhaps even ever! We cannot afford any more suspicions although if you have come here in order to defend the defendant, then you should be careful about what you say for whatever you say will be taken as evidence that will either clear Luigi Mario or damn him." Doctor Toadley chuckled which was the last thing that Luigi felt like doing.

"My dear madam, I am always careful with what I say, or should I address you as your honour? I do beg your pardon, your honour; I quite clean forgot myself but as I am Doctor Toadley, forgetting myself would be a very difficult task indeed!"

The Pianta Judge wore an expression that clearly said 'We've got a right one here.' Banks stared at the Crystal Ball as if it was some sort of deadly weapon, almost as if he thought he recognised it. Luigi noticed this too, having kept an eye on him. The Toad was clearly a suspicious character and one whom everybody needed to be aware of. If only he was allowed to speak…

The aged Koopa Prosecutor cleared his throat in order to speak. "I assume you are acquainted with this young gentleman, Doctor?"

"Am I acquainted with Luigi here? I am. He and his brother were a great help in finding those Star Cures to vanquish the Blorbs, you know, that horrendous disease which was rife throughout the Mushroom Kingdom a few months ago? Of course, I managed to put them together to create the wonderful Miracle Toadley Cure."

"Miracle Cure," Luigi blurted before he could stop himself. Toadley rolled his eyes in a good-natured way.

"Yes, yes, but anyway, I do happen to know Luigi here very well for he has assisted me on other projects as well; peaceful ones for the medical profession I must say just in case you decide to accuse me too of some heinous crime! And am I likely to be part of a heinous crime? I am not. But yes, they pulled off the Star Cure business with aplomb! Of course, things could have gone drastically wrong since for a great deal of time, they were located in the belly of Bowser! Yes, indeed they were and I'm afraid that if you cannot cooperate in a situation such as that then perhaps you never will.

"Would that be enough to testify for the innocence of my patient here? It should. For if Luigi was inclined to be heading for the direction of evil, he would certainly have not gone to the trouble of defeating the Dark Star in the hopes of then resurrecting it again! Villains, you see, like things to be done in the easiest way manageable and if possible, get somebody else to do the dirty work for them? And you think Luigi is capable of this? I think not."

Princess Peach and Toadsworth applauded the cloak-wearing doctor and were quickly taken up by some other members of the Courtroom including the Toadette Jolene. Of course, he wasn't finished yet for there was still some to way to go for everything to be sorted out. The Pianta Judge waited for the applause to subside; fed up with having to call for silence each time. Still, if she ever decided to publish some memoirs about law, order and life; then this case would certainly be the most memorable. Whether she thought Luigi as guilty or not one couldn't be sure but nevertheless, she was a professional and would see it through to the end before reaching a verdict.

"So just to verify things, do you have a high opinion of Luigi, Doctor Toadley?" asked Jolene who was trying hard not to smile for it would be against decorum as a lawyer. Thank goodness her client was having some assistance…

"Perhaps not as high an opinion as what I have for myself," answered Toadley. The jury laughed. "But is he a good man? He is. And are we all fools for having to be here in the first place? Possibly. But as this story unravels, we shall certainly come to its conclusion after having heard the voices of many as we have yet to hear that of the protagonist if I am correct. Which I am I gather."

"While it is indeed praiseworthy to commend his past victories, my concern is rather with the here and now and anything that may affect the outcome of this case today," said the Judge, interrupting Doctor Toadley and what would have been a most intriguing speech. "I wish for justice to be served in this court and kingdom. And now Doctor Toadley, pray tell us anything that can be directly linked to the situation in hand and please be serious about this!" Toadley looked highly affronted.

"Your honour, am I not serious in all kinds of matters at hand? I am not, the answer is I am serious and I am determined to clear this lad's name or my name is not Doctor Toadley! Which it is," he added.

The Prosecutor inquired delicately: "Would you kindly tell us what you know once we continue the proceedings? It is time for the Court to take a break now as we have been in here for a considerable length of time. And Inspector Banks?" The Toad officer jumped to attention and stared coldly at Luigi before turning to face the grey-shelled Koopa. "I think you may be allowed to release Luigi from those handcuffs for the time being. He is not a dangerous delinquent; I am quite sure he is in his own state of mind."

_Oh, what an ironic comment,_ Luigi thought glumly to himself. _I just hope nothing happens while we're all here. I don't want anything bad to happen, especially if I turn out to be the cause of it…_

"Are you sure, sir?" asked Banks. "After all, you have heard the evidence-"

"Yes, Banks, I have heard the evidence!" replied the Koopa a touch testily. "I do happen to know something of the juridical system and I can tell you that I have been in it a lot longer than you have! We have not heard enough evidence from both sides yet and as much as the evidence at the moment seems to be against him, I do not easily forget the times he and his brother have saved her Highness and the Mushroom Kingdom. One cannot fake that."

_Oh, thank you, somebody remembers, somebody knows. It is impossible to fake such a thing. I do worry; I worry for everyone, especially when Mario goes off somewhere and doesn't tell me. I wish I could have come along too; to help, to be there._ Luigi sighed to himself as he slipped into a further melancholy state of mind. _What other things have I done? What haven't I been told? Could I have fought it? I bet I could… Am I that weak?_

Keeping whatever thoughts he had to himself, Banks motioned for Luigi to come over. He leapt out his seat quite without thinking about it and allowed Banks to release his arms for a blessed half an hour. He would probably be cuffed again as it seemed that the Toad absolutely did not trust him one bit. Luigi stretched his muscles; having had them locked in the same position for too long. Banks safely pocketed the handcuffs and began to walk away.

"I cannot rightly determine why you are holding a particular grudge against Luigi Mario at the moment," said the grey Koopa as he slowly lifted himself out of his comfortable seat. "I remember you; I have a very good memory you know and you seem to have changed a great deal indeed. Why is this so? You do not usually act like this… You've certainly changed."

Banks stiffened. "People can and do change, sir and we have such evidence of that in our midst no matter what the outcome of today is. But all in all, I am just doing my duty."

_I've changed. I've changed so many times that I've lost count of them. I don't feel the same anymore. What is wrong with me?_ Luigi leant against the nearest wall, determined not to look at anybody. _Mario must know that I've changed. So much has happened. For better or worse? Probably for worse… I wish he was here now…_

The judge banged her hammer loudly three times and yelled: "Court is adjourned!" The noise was loud as people shuffled about out of their seats, sometimes knocking into each other and scraping tables in their haste to get away and gossip about today's events and what their neighbours thought would later happen. The room was quickly emptied leaving only a handful of people left who had no pressing need to go anywhere or had quickly nipped out to do their ablutions and grab some coffee. Peach and Toadsworth left their seats once everyone else had done so and rushed down to Luigi. Doctor Toadley stayed upon his as he thoughtfully examined his Crystal Ball.

"Well, well, well…" he murmured to himself. "Already they have disappeared and I have only just arrived! What a shame, if only I hadn't been held up by traffic…"

Luigi glanced upwards towards the skylight and saw that the clouds had become a deep murky grey and soon enough, the rain began pelting down with tremendous force, rattling off the windows, perhaps with hailstones and allowing the racket to echo throughout the now empty, cavernous room. This seemed to be happening a lot recently; it was unusual weather for this time of year. Sometimes, he wondered whether the weather was linked to his moods; he was depressed now and the outdoor elements seemed to be eagerly trying to match his feelings.

Peach considered that Luigi should perhaps have a moment to himself; he didn't look like he was ready for talking. She watched him as he remained leant against the wall and allowed a few electrical sparks to jump across his hand. He stared at them before letting them die again and let his attention wander elsewhere. He did not seem to realise that he was trembling slightly as he struggled to keep his emotions under control. Toadsworth sighed to himself gravely.

"Oh, my dear Princess," he said. "How has it ever come to this? This kind of scenario should only exist on another planet or in some strange wilderness. It should not happen in a civilised county such as this one!"

"I don't think any country is truly civilised, Toadsworth," said Peach gently. "Some people like to work by the rules only when it suits them or use the power of the law to bring down another person even if it is unjust and cruel. Some think they are above the law and no amount of time will ever change that."

"You are quite right, Princess," said Doctor Toadley who now joined them. "I was just checking to see if there were any occult forces in the vicinity and whether it had a confounded effect on the people here. It is possible, I grant you."

"By my Grandfather's Marmalade!" Toadsworth exclaimed, waving his mushroom-topped cane furiously. "It was deplorable enough for Master Mario to be accused of polluting that beautiful and pristine island, Isle Delfino which was a laughable business, oh yes indeed! But for Master Luigi to be directly accused of something like murder! Ah, if Doctor Toadley hadn't turned up when he did, I fear we would have been looking at a guilty verdict."

"I thank you," said Doctor Toadley. "I shall present the information about Possession Poison afterwards once everybody is back in the building. Get all this over with."

"Do you truly think that the people would have come to such a conclusion, Toadsworth?" asked Peach. Toadsworth nodded and spoke about how such matters wouldn't have happened back in his salad days. Doctor Toadley murmured in agreement. They then heard Luigi slump to the floor behind them.

"Luigi?" Peach said softly.

Luigi had always been a sensitive and emotional man; he couldn't hide his feelings in the same way as Mario could. He took criticism to heart no matter how much he tried to ignore it and at times, the comments that he had overheard from the likes of the Toads in his hometown made him feel hurt and depressed, as if he could never quite match up to his big brother. Perhaps it was because of his naturally timid and nervous nature that people seemed to think that he just wasn't cut out for hero material. And yet, it was quite ironic to say such a thing for when the town ever got attacked, most of the populace would run around in fear, scared witless. Perhaps it would have been wise for them all to remember the wisdom of the venerable Frogfucius who resided in Tadpole Pond: _"Courage doesn't have to roar; sometimes courage is the little voice saying at the end of the day that says 'I'll try again tomorrow.'' _

However, it was also said that many had become heroes because they were too scared to run away and that had been proved true on many occasions. The sad truth was though (or so it seemed) was that if Luigi had left town now, nobody would have noticed until danger befell them and Mario was taken out of action.

There was more than one hero in the Mushroom Kingdom after all…

"Perhaps if you could just leave us for a moment?" said Peach quietly to Doctor Toadley and Toadsworth. They understood immediately, looking at Luigi's grief-stricken face and obliged, leaving the room and striking up a conversation about something entirely unrelated to the drama before them. She sat herself down next to the green-clad plumber who was trying his utmost best not to let his emotions out. He hid his face from her although she could see some tears rolling downwards. His body heaved with the effort of suppressed crying.

"Everything will be alright, Luigi," she said, trying to boost his confidence. "Doctor Toadley will be able to support you-"

"W-w-why bother?" he asked his voice breaking. "I'm d-done for; l-let's face it…"

"We're not going to go anywhere with an attitude like that," said Peach severely. "But please tell me, what exactly happened earlier? You've been caught up in this; there must be a good reason to this. You haven't done anything wrong!"

"W-what makes y-you say that, Princess?" mumbled Luigi. "I d-did go to the S-star T-temple. I r-ruined the place. I don't know h-how, I d-don't know why. All I k-know is that when I woke up, I was t-there outside a b-burning building. And I've a-p-p-pparently committed a m-m-m-murder…"

"If you can't remember," said Peach slowly. "Then you mustn't have gone of your own accord! Doctor Toadley informed me about what had happened when you disappeared last night. You can't give up, Luigi. We're here to support you all the way."

Luigi looked up then, his eyes were rimmed red. He wanted to believe her words, truly he did but there were thoughts and memories in the back of his mind that he felt he couldn't share with anybody not even Mario. It was a heavy burden that weighed him down. Unable to trust himself to say anything, he nodded with acknowledgement and breathed heavily; calming down as he pushed his other thoughts away again. He shakily got to his feet and saw the pair of Toads returning, apparently deep in discussion. A sudden thought occurred to him although he wasn't sure whether he wanted to know the truth.

"Peach?" Luigi asked timidly. He had her attention. "What… happened to me? When we were searching the Pure Hearts? You mentioned it earlier, something that neither you nor Mario have mentioned to me before. You said that I was hypnotised; in the service of a villain. Did… did that really happen?"

Peach nodded. "Yes, it did."

Luigi was silent for a moment. "And did… did I hurt any of you? Please, you must tell me."

Peach was considering how it was best to answer Luigi lest he should break down into tears again, especially as the Court was due to return soon. She answered him in what she thought was the safest way possible:

"Physically yes, we were hurt," she said. "But mentally, that is a different matter. It was never you out there, not truly. You couldn't hurt us intentionally; we know that your actions weren't truly your own."

"I… I see…"

If that was how Peach put it, then perhaps it was a load off his mind. Maybe the guilt would always be there but if they bore him no grudges… Well, it was easier to live with anyway.

Doctor Toadley had been listening in.

"Well," he said. "You probably gave Bowser a good whipping out there, right?"

* * *

Mario mused over the best method of attacking Belome without also being devoured, joining the little Boo, Booigi in the monster's cavernous stomach. He did wish though that the ghost would stop screaming; it really was putting him off his attacks. Unless, of course, it was putting Belome off the attack as well in which case, that was a good thing.

Bowser growled with impatience as he watched Mario leap about the place, avoiding Belome's wild and ferocious attacks, counterattacking just as his opponent struck then launching his own offensive, beating him back like a professional because of course, he had fought him before. Seriously, what did it take to get rid of one pesky plumber? He was pretty sure that none of this stuff had ever happened to his forefathers. Mind you, he was considerably more evil than them; he was prime 100% final boss material after all! That he was pleased about.

Kamek stood by his Gnarliness's side and watched the scene with mild interest but he seemed more preoccupied with cleaning his wand. Bowser threw several more Bob-ombs in the hope of catching Mario off-guard. It was such hard work being the right-hand minion of an evil Koopa King at times, it really was.

"You know, you wouldn't needed to have done this if the plans had been locked up more safely," reprimanded the Magikoopa. "Who had left the number combination about anyway?"

"Er…" Not that Bowser was going to admit it was him. He didn't make mistakes; he was Bowser. "I don't know! Go ask one of the minions or something! I'm too busy to be bothered by bits of paper when I'm thinking up awesome plots! Paper belongs to somebody else."

"Of course, your Busyness," said Kamek with just the slightest tone of suspicion. "But I'm fairly certain that if the plan had succeeded, we would have had Mario's brother in our grasps at this moment in time." He shook as he remembered the moment he had to tell Bowser that the Ritual of the Hour of Darkness had failed. Because of those blasted Boos. No wonder he hated Boos. There were a couple in Bowser's services but they had always been in Bowser's service so that was alright. Actually, come to think of it, his reaction wasn't as bad as Kamek had anticipated it to be; sure a few of the lowlier minions were set on fire and one of the walls came crashing down after Bowser had punched it but all in all; it wasn't quite as ferocious as Kamek first thought. He must have suspected that the Boos had managed to intercept the potion if they had intercepted his plans. Maybe he wasn't entirely dumb…

Ah, Boos; one of the Koopa family's lifelong enemies. They could be trusted to be untrustworthy. The most untrustworthy were those who served King Boo and boy, did they have long memories. Apparently, King Boo was picking fights with Bowser's great-great grandfather which only showed their mutual dislike of each other. Of course, there were times when they did collaborate but let's not go overboard now.

Mario wiped the sweat of his brow as he continued to fight Belome. This guy seemed to have a lot more HP that he did last time as he still wasn't going down. Mario wished that he had had his hammer with him; an unfortunate oversight on his part. So instead, he performed the Super-Jump repeatedly on Belome's head until he was viciously swiped off. He tried to heal himself except all the Mushrooms had gone…

"Still haven't beaten Luigi's record," he mused to himself as he charged up a fiery attack, aiming squarely at Belome, ready to release when he next opened his mouth. His record for consecutive jumps was thirty-six; Luigi's was an impressive fifty.

Belome stuck out his long tongue and that was when Mario struck home; a barrage of red flames shot forth, bouncing once off the stone slabs before hitting Belome with intense heat. The monster screamed and spat out the quivering Booigi. He was covered in slobber and tried to shake himself dry. Bowser sighed; next time he really would have Mario served on a platter with some side salad.

"Why did I come here?" moaned Belome. "It is not good here…" He was staggering about, on his last legs now. Mario grinned; finally he could finish this battle. That was until; Belome unveiled his last resort in which he glared at Mario with bright red eyes, Mario saw the flash of colour. He tried to run forward but the monster's power was in full force, paralysing the red-clad plumber on the very spot. Bowser roared with laughter.

_"Mamma mia!"_ Mario cried as he attempted to move, frozen wholly. He couldn't move an inch and each stomping of Belome brought him ever closer.

"You can't move now," said Belome, stating the blindingly obvious. "You won't move until I finish with you. You can't knock me out now. I will win." Mario was going to be in for a world of hurt.

Booigi felt that he was never going to be clean again and was sure that he was going to be fully digested in there; what a horrible thought that was. At least he was out of danger now. Then he noticed that Mario was unable to move and at the mercy of Belome and Bowser of which they had none. They seemed to have forgotten about little Booigi now…

Booigi frantically looked about the hall to see if there was anything, anything that he could do to help Mario out. Magic was no use here since he couldn't handle it. But wait! Up above was a swinging chandelier, black and spiky and covered with candles. It was attached to a chain and if he could just loosen it…

Booigi zipped over to the cranking handle which the chain was wrapped around. It was old and rusty and not inclined to move. Booigi grasped the end of it and yanked at it with all his strength. _If I pull it back far enough,_ he thought, _it will drop straight on top of that creature's head!_

Belome was now mere feet away from Mario and licking his many fangs. Mario grunted, trying to move but failing. He was actually scared; he couldn't fight back. He tensed up and closed his eyes tightly, wondering what would happen to him. Bowser cackled all the more; this was a bit more like it!

Booigi pulled as hard as he could, ignoring the screeching sounds that the chain made but was fearful that he would be noticed. The piece that Booigi was holding threatened to break which would leave him with not enough chain to pull at and loosen. Gritting his teeth, he finally, managed to get it loose and waited for just the right moment…

Kamek suddenly noticed the Boo's ploy.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, YOU GHASTLY GHOST?" Kamek screamed. "LET GO OF THE CHAIN NOW!"

Booigi was happy to oblige. "OK!"

He let go of the chain before Kamek could change his mind and watched the chandelier plummet like a Thwomp, striking Belome just as he prepared to inhale Mario and feast upon him. He violently fell forward with a heavy thump, clearly unconscious and Mario was freed from his paralysis. He breathed a sigh of relief; he had been too close to being eaten alive. Bowser stood up from his throne, looking murderous. However, the disturbance of the chandelier led to the weakening of the ceiling near to its location. Bowser stepped forward before being flattened by a bunch of falling slabs. Kamek dived out of the way but was knocked out by some of the debris.

Mario was quite stunned; what a way to end a battle. Booigi was very pleased with himself; that was his first cool moment of his existence. Mario indicated to Booigi to follow him, leading them both out of the giant room and up a flight of stairs, spiralling anticlockwise and leading to the upper chambers. They ran along for several minutes, thankfully not coming across anything. Suddenly, Mario stopped and tried to remember which direction to go next. Wordlessly, he turned a corner and came across a darkened corridor, long and foreboding. Booigi stuck close to Mario, fearing the dark but there was nothing to be afraid of. Cautiously, Mario examined the front of each door and then coming to the last one, found a strange padlock with the symbol of Bowser upon it.

"It should be in here," Mario panted. "It has to be. He always puts his important stuff in rooms like this. It should be here."

"But we don't have a key," said Booigi, not as tired as Mario was. "Isn't there any other way?"

"Well, we can't use force; it's too well reinforced for that. We can't use magic, it's a Magikoopa spell. Unless…" Mario stared at the padlock and the little keyhole. "Do you think you'd be able to slip in through there and unlock it from the other side?" The walls were too thick for the Boo to be able to pass through.

Booigi looked bemused. "What, me?"

"Yes, you."

"But I can't do that!" he exclaimed.

"Why not?" asked Mario, lifting an eyebrow.

"Because… because I can't do magic! You know I can't!"

"You can turn invisible though," said Mario. "Security isn't one of Bowser's best points. If it was anything else, I would have gone to look for a key but this is kind of an emergency. I don't want to waste any more time." Mario looked troubled and wondered if his brother was alright.

"So I should still be able to go through the door?"

"Yes," said Mario. "I doubt Bowser has protected it against Boos; he only has a few of them, not as numerous as Goombas and Koopas."

"What? There are Boos in this castle?"

"Well, yes. Didn't you know?"

"No," said Booigi. "I thought… I thought we all worked for King Boo. Apart from the renegades."

"Well there you go, you learn something new every day! Now can we stop talking and get doing?"

"OK, OK…"

Booigi touched the door, seeing whether he was able to go through it. He didn't think that it was very polite to go into other people's rooms without their permission but then again; it wasn't exactly polite to go kidnapping people either. That had not been a good experience; it reminded him of a dream he had. He found that the materials of the door offered him no resistance and so turning invisible, he slipped through it easily and entered the room. He gazed around it and saw stacks upon stacks of papers, weapons and potions, all neatly arranged into rows which their respective names underneath them and their properties. There was a solid chest lurking in the corner; it probably contained something valuable.

Remembering Mario, Booigi managed to undo the bolts and allow Mario access to the room. Mario strode in and immediately began searching for the required potion, hoping that it was well-labelled. He remained silent for some time as was Booigi until the plumber spoke up.

"Booigi?" said Mario. "I want to say… well, thank you. For back there. I would have been done for. That was some good work." Booigi said nothing but dutifully searched for the antidote. "This doesn't change the fact that I am wary of you though and I'll be watching you."

"I didn't expect anything else," said Booigi, smiling faintly. "Found anything?"

"Yeah, a Spike Shield. What's that doing here? Nothing of importance though. Hey, have you checked that chest?"

"No. wouldn't the antidote be on here?"

"For some reason, they always stick the really important stuff in treasure chests," said Mario shaking his head. "It's as if they want to be defeated…" Mario went over to the chest and kicked it open. He glanced in and saw one lonely bottle, full of a strange purple liquid and with a note stuck to it. "There you go," he said grinning. "What did I tell you?" Mario plucked out the bottle.

That was when the klaxon went off.

* * *

"And so what is your story, Doctor Toadley?" sniffed the Pianta Judge, clearly showing her disapproval for the mad medic.

Doctor Toadley walked to the centre of the Courtroom and cleared his throat, holding a small syringe which he proudly presented as 'Exhibit A.' Luigi was back in the box, held forcibly against his will yet again with the handcuffs. He hoped that Mario was doing better than he was at the moment.

"Do I have reasonable evidence against the officer's claims of Luigi being a madman and working for evil of his own accord? I do. There is a reason for most of things and there is a reason for this. Look upon this if you will; here contains the evidence of a potent drug that had been administered a couple of days ago and I shall tell you what was in it. It was the deadly Possession Poison that can bend anyone to the will of the enforcer and since I have knowledge about this; for I am Doctor Toadley, this information can be verified."

"This isn't a get-out clause is it?" murmured Banks.

"Is this a get-out clause? The answer is no," said Toadley severely. "It is of the most painful disposition and can cause fraught and terrible nightmares and carries a high risk of death as I gathered when examining the patient. I had several nurses attending Luigi when this came about as well. I can assure you that whatever Luigi may or may not have done which is to be seen as out of character for him, it wasn't down to choice. GRAVE ILLNESS!" Doctor Toadley shouted making nearly everybody jump. "The patient is inflicted with a most grave illness as it allows their inhibitions to be controlled by somebody else! The patient's ability to be able to fight back is severely suppressed because of the unimaginable pain that it causes! Would you like to try it? I think not! Besides, such is the difficulty of creating this that it is only ever going to be used upon people who are worthwhile for the poisoner's intentions. Yes, so the Star Temple was burned down to the ground and maybe a Dark Star has been created but it takes a great deal of evil to do that and the same person who has been blessed by the Stars cannot be the person to destroy such a place! At least, not of his own accord. Magic works through people but it may not necessarily be part of them. Do you understand?"

This speech was met with silence and possible confusion but after some consideration, most got the gist of what the Doctor was talking about. Doctor Toadley continued once he had retrieved his Crystal Ball from his bag.

"As many of you know, I tend to use this for crystal diagnosis, consider this 'Exhibit B.' This allows me to pinpoint certain things and if Luigi was faking the whole thing and everything was down to him with no outside influences, no such signs of those forces would show up on here, only Luigi himself. Have I tested this earlier and found what I wanted to seek? I have. The answer is this: there are evil forces out there although it seems to be muddled; there are several beings at work. Have a look for yourself so that the proof is shown to you."

Jolene got up first and examined the images with her own eyes and was taken aback by what she saw. This felt like a good sign for Luigi as it was passed along and the jury were scared by whatever they had seen shouting out things like: "Arrgh! Bowser!" and "No wait, that's not Luigi!" after all of this, Luigi was finally asked some questions, putting him on the spot again.

"Do you remember any of this occurring? The burning of the Star Temple?" he was questioned.

"No, your honour," he said. "One minute, I was in the Toadley Clinic, the next minute, I was outside the building; I may have been knocked out. I don't know how I got there."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, your honour."

"Do you admit that you may have had a hand in the destruction of the Star Temple and the yet-as-unconfirmed creation of a Dark Star?"

Luigi hesitated for a moment, frightened of what the eventual verdict was going to be. "I was there. I admit that though the fire and lightning are examples of my powers, dark magic isn't. I wouldn't have been able to do such a thing on my own even if I had wanted to."

"Is there anything that you could have done otherwise?"

"No, your honour. I don't think so. As Doctor Toadley said, it is very difficult to break out of. Otherwise, I would have tried but I can't remember."

"Very well then," said the grey-shelled Koopa Prosecutor. "We have now heard and seen all the evidence concerning this case. Now the final verdict falls to the jury. So the question is: is Luigi Mario guilty or not guilty of attempted murder and arson?" Luigi was shaking with fear and nerves; it was impossible for him to hide it. "Guilty?"

Banks's hand obviously shot up; that wasn't a surprise. Luigi glanced about and saw a few others put up their hands; Peach and Toadsworth did not. He hadn't the time to count them all when they put them back down again and the Prosecutor asked the jury "Not Guilty?" His heart beat even faster as people slowly put up their hands, indicating their choice. Peach and Toadsworth hoped as much as Luigi that the outcome was favourable. Banks shifted on the spot, knowing what was going to happen next, he had seen the look in Luigi's eyes earlier; he had suspected him of something. The Pianta Judge brought down her hammer with a slam.

"Not Guilty!"

Many stood up and applauded, Peach and Toadsworth were especially jubilant. Luigi wasn't sure that he had heard her correctly at first nor did he notice Doctor Toadley slapping him jovially on the back. He was simply stunned.

"Didn't you hear?" asked Toadley merrily. "You're not guilty!"

"I'm not?"

"Of course not! Specifically, they weren't your actions, somebody else's but made through you which is different to them being your own actions. You're off!"

Luigi, once he realised that he was safe, slowly grinned and leapt in the air triumphantly. He would have punched it too but found that he still couldn't move his arms.

"I think you can take these off now!" he called out.

"I think not," said Banks. Then suddenly, everything went dark as if all the light had disappeared. People started screaming and running into each other. Luigi leapt on top of the box, keeping himself steady and looking about warily. He then looked forward and felt his heart stop, seeing before him a most unwelcome figure.

"Surprised?" asked King Boo quizzically.

* * *

King Boo took a moment to watch Luigi's face turn into that of horror and relished in the fact that the man was shaking from head to toe. He did however; keep his wary battle stance. How amusing. Did he expect to be able to fight in this condition? And against one such as himself; the ghostly monarch as well? At least his minion had succeeded in that small task of disabling his magical abilities but had alas, failed in the task of turning the Toad populace against the green-clad plumber which would have made King Boo's tasks all the easier in the way of control. It would have also made his plans more delicious too. Ah well, one supposed that one could not have everything.

"Is this any way to greet an old enemy or perhaps, an old friend?" he said to Luigi, ignoring everybody else as a small number of Boos also lurked within the building and began to do what Boos did best: terrorise mortals.

"What are you talking about?" Luigi breathed. "And what are you doing here?"

"Oh, come, come now, surely you haven't forgotten have you?" said King Boo. "We happened to be reacquainted very recently. One should not forget the company of one's host. It was a very intriguing visit I must say. Perhaps you may remember later while you are sleeping. We could work very well together you know." Luigi shivered.

"You're just trying to mess with my mind, aren't you?" he whispered. "But that you mentioned. Banks isn't really a Toad is he? He's a Boo."

"Correct!" cried King Boo happily. "You do have wits; that is something I like to see."

Banks shed his Toad disguise and became a fully-fledged Boo again. The Koopa Prosecutor stood up and yelled: "I knew it! I knew that wasn't you! Where's the real Inspector Banks?"

"Sleeping," said the sullen Boo by the real name of Doppel. "He's somewhere about in Toad Town. It wasn't difficult to assume the disguise."

Luigi heard Peach scream as a few Boos backed her into a corner. Luigi's eyes flashed with the vigour of a hero.

"Make your minions leave and I'll fight you one-on-one. Whatever you're trying to achieve, it isn't going to happen. So leave now before you suffer the humiliation of defeat!"

"Ah, but Luigi," he said. "You're forgetting one thing. You can't do anything like that because not only can you not use your fire and electricity tricks due to Doppel having the key there, but I'm afraid it is something I simply cannot allow you to do. Not when I can control you."

Luigi barely had the chance to move when King Boo attacked him with the onslaught of powerful dark magic. Luigi was bodily lifted up by means of levitation before being repeatedly slammed against the wall. He then let Luigi drop to the floor and patiently waited for the next move. Luigi flipped himself upright and tried to avoid the next blast of magic. At the same time, he tried to wrench off the handcuffs but with little luck.

Suddenly, an intense pain in his body caused him to keel over and scream with agony. He dully realised what was happening; it was the Possession Poison which Toadley had talked about. But wasn't that to do with Bowser? How had he got out of that painting?

"This isn't good…" said Doctor Toadley softly. "It's happening…"

"Good gravy!" exclaimed Toadsworth as he hid from one of the Boos. "What is that nefarious King Boo doing here?"

"He's being used." Doctor Toadley saw Luigi writhing about, slowly succumbing to the poison. "Goodness knows what he'll be forced to do…"

"Stand," King Boo commanded.

Luigi inched himself upwards; his face gleamed with sweat. He panted heavily, he couldn't do anything else. Doppel released Luigi's hands from the handcuffs, letting the magic flow freely again. Sparks already jumped from his fingers' ends. He was no longer shaking but his every movement seemed slow and deliberate. The rest of the Boos stopped flying about and rushed to King Boo's side. Luigi turned to face everybody else, he saw Peach. She was horribly reminded of that last adventure when… when all that stuff happened.

"Aim."

Luigi lifted an arm; his hand outstretched and began forming a terrible, more powerful fireball than any he had ever made. It was tinted with blackness and whirled around ferociously. There was no emotion in his gaze; he looked through them all including Peach rather than at them. Peach wished that Mario was here but he was somewhere else.

"Luigi… don't…" she whispered. She was ignored.

Everybody waited terrified; King Boo kept them on tenterhooks. Then suddenly with no spoken word from him, Luigi let the tremendous fireball go. Everybody ducked and expected flaming, searing-hot pain. However, the fireball ricocheted off the ceiling instead before bouncing downwards and hitting the ground just in front of them instead. Some people were singed but otherwise unharmed. King Boo smiled menacingly.

"This is just a warning," he said. "This may be what will happen to others. They might not be so lucky…"

Shrieking with laughter, all the Boos vanished. Luigi started swaying on the spot before fainting. He didn't see Peach rush up to him…

* * *

As soon as the alarm was set off, a Koopatrol squad burst in on the scene, seemingly from all angles. Mario and Booigi sought for a way out. There was an open window; not too high from the ground. They raced over and were chased by the angry minions. Mario leapt out of the way of a spinning, spiky shell; Booigi kept himself away from the floor. They launched themselves out of the window and Mario plummeted down. Booigi zipped after him but didn't notice a few airborne Koopatrols from above. One of them knocked him out of the way and streamlining themselves, crashed into Mario. Mario landed on the hard ground with three Koopatrols on top of him. The bottle flew out of his hand and span upwards. Booigi went after it but was pinned down by one of the Koopatrols. He struggled wildly against it and reached out to grab the object…

The bottle shattered.

* * *

**This is over 8000 words; it is likely to be shorter next time ;) Thanks again for the reviews and new-reviewer Jordan-TheAwesomeCatLover! I haven't played the Starfy game though; I'm not likely to either due to the lack of old game shops nearby (and I'm wary of online shopping). Oh, well.**


	12. Stars Above

**Chapter 12: Stars Above**

As everybody within the Mushroom Kingdom knows, the Star Spirits reside in Star Haven on the Star Hill where they watch over the world from a distance; never getting too involved unless the situation was drastic. They assessed the dreams of certain peoples; ones whom they had taken special care to watch over. They maintained a peaceful atmosphere over Star Hill and indeed the world. People didn't just believe in the Star Spirits and the Star Sprites; they knew that they truly were real as every now and then; they descended to the earth for reasons unknown. Besides, they were obviously real since Mario had rescued all seven of the Star Spirits from Bowser when he had imprisoned them and stolen the Star Rod in his never-ending quest for world-domination and Peach-napping.

The Star Spirits were exhausted and washed out; this was such an unusual sensation that they couldn't recall the last time that they had felt like this. But the Dark Star… it had been on the rampage through Star Haven, scattering the Star Sprites as they fled from its unheavenly powers and its corruption. Thank goodness that it was only moving slowly; it had very little power at this moment in time but what power there was could have devastating results.

It had taken an age to reunite the Star Sprites after they had escaped the Dark Star's clutches and fled to the furthest recesses of Star Haven and the Mushroom Kingdom. Many had refused to answer the summons so it had fallen to one particularly brave Star Sprite to round them all up with the assistance of Kalmar who was always good at coaxing others back into the open. It helped however that this Star Sprite had quite a sharp tongue and the others did not want to face her wrath. She had had experience with a Dark Star before so they were prepared to follow her back to Star Hill in the protection of the Star Spirits.

The Dark Star was currently imprisoned within a cage constructed by magical means. It had managed to tire itself out very quickly much to the relief of everybody but just to be on the safe side, Mamar placed it under a sleeping spell. Such was its ferocity though in fighting off both the cage and the lullaby that it had required the combined strength of all the Star Spirits to subdue it. If this was what the level of power was now, then heavens know what it would grow to in the short future and they were the heavens.

"It appears," said Eldstar, the wisest and most venerable of the Star Spirits, "That we have a full-scale disaster on our hands."

The Star Spirits and the Star Sprites were all huddled together in the main meeting room; such was the crisis that everybody had attended and all of them were terrified. Perhaps they should have placed a couple of Star Sprites to guard the Dark Star cage. But then, if it did happen to break free, then what hope would a couple of Star Sprites have when even the Star Spirits were having problems?

"A full-scale disaster is probably too light a term for it, Eldstar," said Skolar, the scholar amongst them. "This is likely to be even worse than that Dark Star which was temporarily released at Peach's Castle fairly recently. At least that was vanquished quickly." This was because it had tried to take a physical kind of form. Also, it had been somewhat separated during the course of battle.

"Of course, of course, but the question is, how are we ever going to get rid of this one?" said Misstar. She was as deeply worried as the rest of them. She glanced over at the younger Star Sprites who were threatening to burst into tears again. She and Mamar went over to comfort them.

"The Mario Brothers managed to defeat the last Dark Star did they not?" queried Kalmar. "It is fortunate that we can rely on their power but I fear that they have been through too much lately for us to put that kind of pressure on them again. And even they had had the assistance of Bowser that time (which surprises me even now)."

Klevar gave a nervous cough as he looked up from the thick tome that he was consulting. Nervous coughs in any world are never followed by good news. Even creatures that don't actually breathe cough nervously at some point in their lives.

"Well… the thing is, the Dark Star was created by different means this time round wasn't it? And because of that, this may have implications upon those who were involved in its creation."

"Does that really matter?" piped up a voice from near the back. "Evil means must have created this one so if destroying this Dark Star has 'implications' on those who created it, then I say it serves them right!"

The Star Spirits looked at each other uneasily. They had not yet informed the Star Sprites on how the Dark Star had been created. It didn't matter at the time; survival was more important. But now, they supposed that they had no choice but to mention it now.

"Well, you see Starlow," said Klevar uncertainly, addressing the young female Star Sprite who had been involved in destroying the last Dark Star. "The thing is… well… this Dark Star was created as a result of dark magic going through a person whom you have happened to travel with." He waited for the light to dawn on Starlow. "Not his fault of course, but alas, it was Luigi who created the Dark Star."

The muted silence within the meeting room was almost deafening and lasted an uncomfortable number of minutes before everybody started whispering urgently to their neighbours. Starlow pushed herself to the front where the Star Spirits were sat.

"Just what in the heck are you saying, Klevar?" she demanded. "You must have your facts wrong! Luigi can't have _created_ the Dark Star. He's a good man, I mean; sure he's a bit cowardly but…"

Klevar opened his mouth but no words came out. He looked at his nearest companion for support. "I know it is hard to take in, young one," said Muskular heavily. His young face was creased with worry. "But you could say that Luigi Mario's power was hijacked by evil forces so to speak. We are not sure however, whether this creation was intentional or merely just an attack on the Star Temple to prove what those evil forces can do with that power."

"Couldn't he have, you know, fought it?" said Starlow.

Mamar spoke up. "Such is the hurtful power of the evil that is afflicting him that there is very little chance of him being able to do so. Fighting against that, it seems, is to only cause terrible pain upon the soul." She sadly shook her head. "I know how much you admire Mario. He would not have been able to truly fight against this either. Luigi is not a weak man."

"I never said he was!" Starlow protested.

"I gather that you had the thought in the back of your mind though."

"But what will the implications be?" questioned Starlow, trying desperately to keep the fearful tones out of her voice.

A violent rumble shook the very walls of the building. The Star Sprites clung to each other for protection. Starlow zipped upwards and out of the window despite someone shouting for her not to go. Many tense seconds passed before she returned and shook her head. They sighed with relief. It had not escaped. It was just a rumble.

Eldstar cleared his throat. "If we destroy the Dark Star, we may also destroy Luigi."

"But that can't be right!" shouted Starlow, ashamed at herself for feeling the prickling of tears. "I mean, we destroyed that Dark Star before and Fawful wasn't destroyed by it! It was only his last-ditch attempt in trying to kill us that he killed himself."

"That is so but the chances of the lack of destruction or at least, a lack of further corruption, are appearing to be very slim indeed. There is a very high risk of this causing untold damage on Luigi. We do not wish to risk that. The world needs more than one hero. The twins of prophecy cannot be separated."

"…" she said.

"Can we keep this Dark Star in permanent sleep then?" asked Kalmar. Even he was having trouble keeping calm.

"Unlikely," said Skolar who held some idea upon the disposition of Dark Stars. "This one may be too powerful."

"Are there any other solutions?" asked Misstar. The Star Sprites asked themselves this but turned out no answers.

Eldstar raised his voice.

"I do not know… yet."

* * *

Mario, Booigi and the Koopatrols stopped fighting instantly at the sound of the smashing glass on the blocky path as if frozen in time. Mario could only stare as the viscous liquid slowly ran out of the bottle with only droplets to spare hanging about within the stopper. One of the Koopatrols didn't even notice the young Boo shrugging him off and approaching the vital item. The spell was broken when another of the Koopatrols moaned quietly to himself.

"Oh, man…" he whispered. "This is so not good. The boss is absolutely gonna cream us for this…"

"How do you mean?" asked one of the others fearfully as they unsteadily got to their feet. Mario watched them discuss the matter amongst themselves; his mind otherwise fogged with fearful thoughts of his own.

"He said that he wanted it for security reasons. You know a bargaining tool so that he could get Mario. Because of them being brothers and all that…"

"Good plan, devious plan, I like it."

"Yeah," said the first Koopatrol. "But it isn't much use when Lord Bowser has nothing to bargain with! As far as I know, that was the only solution! I overheard Kamek telling his lackeys that it was difficult enough to create that one potion, let alone another!"

"Couldn't they just lift the spell or something?"

"It wasn't just a spell though. It was a mixture of dark magic and dark poison. And besides, haven't you heard the news? They say that the Boos have somehow intercepted the potion. Magic gets passed along to them, right? Since they became the new possessors of it and all…"

As one, they glanced at Booigi who was gently picking up the shards of the broken glass where the remainder of the potion lay. Magic could fix the broken glass but there was no way of retrieving the lost potion even if he could somehow manage magic. They then glanced back at Mario who had strangely enough, not decided to continue with the attack. He let a small red fireball burn upon the palm of his hand, staring into its whirling contents as though it symbolised something; reminded him of what he had come for, who he was fighting for, who he wanted so badly to save… and had failed to do so.

"So… what are we going to do now?" asked a black Koopatrol who was shaking within his armour.

The first Koopatrol said nothing for the moment, thinking as hard as possible. Meanwhile, Mario was thinking about his brother, wondering whether he was OK or whether King Boo had made his first move onto him, forcing him into actions that he would never do out of choice. If that had occurred, then Mario knew that Luigi would try to fight back no matter the cost. It filled him with rage to hear that people called his own heroic brother a coward but that was what they did. How could they, knowing what he did for them? Mario clenched his fists and forced himself to look in the direction of where Toad Town lay. In his heart, he sensed that Luigi was somehow already in trouble; some sort of danger. Mario couldn't be in two places at once though. If he protected his brother by being at home, then how else was he supposed to save him; what else could he do?

Unless he had stayed with Luigi in the first place; to keep a watchful eye over him and allowed the Boo to go in his stead instead. Yet he also knew that Booigi had only got this far because he had been urged on by Mario; apparently, the Boo had never got out much before. The secret of King Boo was now in the open (something which Mario reminded himself that he would have to tell Luigi). He supposed he really could not blame Booigi for not informing them of this vital predicament. They had never asked after all; never wanted to think that the ghostly king would make his triumphant return and haunt their lives again.

Sometimes, being well-known heroes because of the powers that they possessed, granted to them at birth, could be less of a blessing and more of a curse.

Everybody suddenly noticed that the loud klaxon had finally fallen silent. The Koopatrol spoke again:

"First things first, we ought to clear up the mess upstairs. I don't think his Gnarliness is aware of this little intrusion otherwise he would have come up here to beat up Mario."

_Bit difficult,_ Mario thought, _since he's stuck under a ton of rubble thanks to Booigi here. And I'm grateful for that._

"As for this potion malarkey, I don't think it is going to be used anyway because if it's true what they say about King Boo, then he's hardly gonna show a bit of compassion is he? If he managed to get his hands on it, then it would only be used for some sort of trick."

"Yeah, sneaky little devils, aren't they?" said the black Koopatrol.

Booigi ignored this comment as he felt himself to be separate from King Boo and his, for want be of a better word, minions. He might have been under in the employment of his liege but that didn't mean that he had to like it. Besides, he couldn't do sneakiness if he tried.

"So we better not mention it. Lord Bowser would only burn our tails off anyway. If he somehow finds out, we'll just blame it on Mario. He's not gonna think that as suspicious."

"Charmed, I'm sure," said Mario, his arms folded across his chest. Booigi pocketed the stopper with the liquid that he had collected, safe from harm. He just had to make sure that he didn't spill any of it…

"Reckon we should capture Mario for the boss?" asked one of the less smart Koopatrols. Mario might have been hurt but he was still very much in the brink of health. He glared at his opponents, threatening to crack open their helmets with one smooth jump.

"Are you the dumbest minions ever or what?" growled Mario. "I would just love to see you try and take me. And I have back-up." He glanced at the Boo who squeaked, "What, me?" Mario continued. "I don't know what you have got but it looks like you've ran out of options."

The Koopatrols looked at each other and wisely decided to 'hightail it out of here and back to the castle pronto.' Mario only let his determined stance slide once they were safely out of sight. Suddenly realising that they were in danger still by remaining in the immediate area, Mario motioned to Booigi to follow him. He took the long but sheltered route away from Bowser's Castle, passing by the bubbling lava pits in relative silence. Once he felt sure that they had gained a safe enough distance away from the Koopa-ridden place, Mario flopped onto the cool grass, utterly despondent.

"How am I supposed to save Luigi now?" Mario berated himself. "Stupid, stupid, I should have put the bottle away before doing anything else. And now it's gone and there's nothing else to cure that Possession Poison… Why did this have to happen? What am I supposed to do now?"

Booigi floated over to Mario and tapped his shoulder.

"You're not alone, you know," he said quietly. "I said that I wanted to help and I'm going to continue doing so. And you're Mario, aren't you supposed to be able to do anything?"

Mario sniffed. "Who told you that?"

"Luigi did," Booigi said simply.

Mario almost chuckled. "He puts me on a high pedestal does my brother."

"And with good reason. He trusts you. He knows that you're going to save him from this horrible fate. We've been set back it's true but I'm sure Doctor Toadley will be able to do something with this…"

Booigi pulled out the collected dregs of the potion and showed them to Mario.

"That's not going to be enough," he said.

"I know but Doctor Toadley should be able to work out what sort of ingredients make this if he can manage to extract them somehow from this little bit. He keeps saying that he is brilliant at what he does so this should be relatively simple for him. I suppose the ingredients are going to be really rare so we'll have to go search for them but that is the sort of thing you're good at; you've had plenty of practice after all. What do you think?"

Mario's mood was no longer despondent. Who was he to lose heart over this and indeed over anything? He leapt to his feet in classic Mario-style. He thanked the Boo most heartily and declared his idea to be a brilliant one. Booigi was surprised to say the least.

"W-well-well-well, thank you, Mario," he said stuttering.

"Hey, like you say; Doctor Toadley should be able to do something about this. Goodness knows his ego is already stoked enough though. He didn't make that Miracle Cure on his own…"

Mario picked himself up from the grass and sighed as he realised the lengthy distance that they had to cover. It would take two or three days at least and, Mario thought, that was if they weren't being tailed by Bowser's Koopa army. Nevertheless, they weren't going anywhere just be sitting here. He was about to set off again though when something distracted him. A very large figure loomed in the distance and it seemed somewhat familiar to him. It was also very ironic considering that he had a Boo as a partner at the moment. They mustn't have been too far away from Gusty Gulch and its castle…

"I think we will have to take a detour, Booigi," announced Mario. "I think I may have an idea on how to get us back quicker…"

"It won't be dangerous, will it?" said Booigi fretfully as he zoomed ahead to catch up with Mario.

"Well… let's just say that it _shouldn't_ be dangerous."

"Oh, marvellous."

* * *

_Luigi shuddered as he held the nozzle of the Poltergust 3000 and stood behind his adversary, listening to him as he conversed with the painting on the wall: the painting that held his brother Mario. Luigi held his breath and feared to disturb the Booish king. Thankfully, King Boo hadn't noticed him yet although neither had Mario; he was too busy attempting to break free for all the good that it would do him. King Boo, of course, gloated._

"_Ahh," he sighed happily. "I could just stare at my Mario painting for hours! It's true what they say about fine art, it takes utterly refined sensibilities to truly appreciate it! The way you plead for help, Mario... I find it so… satisfying."_

_Don't worry bro, thought Luigi to himself as King Boo then went on to describe how much trouble the Mario Brothers, especially Mario himself, had caused them in the past. I'll get you out of there. _

"_Seriously, though, who would actually believe that mansions get given away in contests? Talk about stupid! What do they feed you Mario brothers anyway... gullible soup?"_

_Ah. That part really stung Luigi as it was he who had asked his brother to go ahead of him in the first place, even though he had suspicions of the place itself. King Boo was right after all; who gave away mansions in contests? Luigi had the terrible feeling that he would be feeling guilty about this for the rest of his life…_

"_Your brother came all this way just to be turned into a painting… it's just terrific."_

"_However."_

_Luigi flinched horribly as King Boo slowly and deliberately turned around to face him, wearing a most malicious grin; Luigi could see in his gleaming eyes exactly what the King of all Boos was planning to do with him. He wanted a Luigi painting to truly complete his gallery; the perfect way of satisfying his cold-blooded revenge upon the famed brothers._

"_I am not afraid of you, fool! I fear only that infernal Poltergust 3000 you carry on your back! Stupid machine!"_

_He despised the Mario Brothers but at the moment, he despised Luigi more than could be put into words as using his trusty device, Luigi had hovered up all the rest of the Boos. King Boo called them friends although this was almost certainly a lie. Friends? King Boo did not have friends, he had no need for friends. He had companions, minions; they worked diligently for him; he did not have friends._

"_Don't imagine that I'll flee, I'll fight you like a true Boo."_

_This usually involved trickery of some kind. Ha, Boos didn't know what a fair fight was if it punched them in the face._

"_Now join your brother…" King Boo whispered. "Inside the painting."_

_Mario's image inside that framed painting disappeared before Luigi's very eyes, dissolving into an image far worse than he had imagined; Bowser; the great and terrible Koopa King. It was as Madame Clairvoya had said. But they had beaten Bowser not that long ago; was this thing here just another illusion like the rest of the Mansion was? A mere copy? 'Bowser' opened his cavernous mouth and Luigi felt himself being dragged towards the painting by a force that he could not escape. As he scrabbled at the air in front of him in a vain attempt of escape, the last thing that he saw before the room had vanished completely was a faint image of Mario looking on, real fear in his eyes before the image was replaced by that of a King Boo cackling…_

* * *

Luigi jolted and woke up, fearing for one moment that he was back within the Mansion, facing down the nefarious King Boo. He could sense the presence of people about him, wherever he was but he didn't want to let them know that he was awake. They could find out in their own time or let him be. He didn't want to face anybody at the moment and if Mario was here, he wasn't so sure that he wanted to see him either because he remembered what had happened. He remembered the expression on Peach's face…

Fear. Abject fear. Terror. Terror for her people. Terror for Luigi. Questioning. Why. Why, indeed? Why, anything? How? How, he knew the answer to. But why? Why couldn't he fight back? No, it was much too strong. But he could have resisted. He could have been stronger. Should have been stronger. Would have been stronger. To stop them suffering. So they wouldn't stare death in its face. He cared for them, even if they did not care for him. Why? Because…

But. Would… would Mario… have been stronger? Would he have resisted? Saw Peach's face? Fought against the Possession Poison? Broke free of King Boo's clutches? Fought him? Defeated him? Sent the other Boos packing? People cheering? Peach happy? Everyone relieved? Thankful for their hero?

Or. Perhaps not? Too much pain? Not enough strength. Hurt. Anger. Torture. Brutality. Evil. Weakness. Lost control of body and will? Would he have fired? Have fired? Have fired… Attacked? Killed? Or stayed his hand? But for a moment. Enslaved. Indifferent. Cold. Not all there. Wrong. Loss. A brother turned against his brother. What would Mario have done? Was he stronger? Was Luigi just… weak? Merely a vessel for evil? Or… what?

"Do I think that that is enough brooding? I do," said a familiar, distant voice. "I gather you have been awake for some time; you have stopped thrashing about at least. I thought you were going to do yourself an injury like that. Grave illness indeed…"

Luigi kept his eyes closed and wondered whether Doctor Toadley was just saying this just to provoke a reaction.

"I'm not doing this for the good of my own health you know. But I would like a reaction from you, lad. Show me that you're quite there."

Luigi opened his eyes and was surprised to find himself in one of the spare rooms of the castle; one that he and his brother frequented fairly often. They had brought him in unconscious of course. Somebody had stripped him too although Luigi didn't have enough energy at the moment to feel that his dignity was being attacked here. Instead, he pushed himself upright and pulled the covers up across his torso.

"I remember… what happened," Luigi stated.

"I gathered," said Doctor Toadley not unkindly. "Here, drink this. Should clear up those contusions in a flash."

Luigi looked at himself and saw the dark, purple bruises covering much of his body. He took the proffered glass wordlessly and slowly drank it.

"Don't seem too shocked. You were knocked about quite a bit by that King Boo. Heavy stone walls I grant you. In fact, am I surprised that you didn't receive much worse? I am. Drink all of that please, the taste is not all that bad."

"How come you brought me here instead?" asked Luigi. "I thought you would have taken me to the Clinic."

Doctor Toadley sighed. "We were going to do but we had to take refuge in the castle instead. It seems that news travels quickly around these parts and besides, we heard reports that there were some Boos stalking the area. Are they involved with King Boo? We're not sure. They just seem to like causing trouble."

"You can say that again," groaned Luigi. He covered his face from Doctor Toadley's view. "I nearly killed all those people. And Peach. Did you see the look on her face? She must have thought that I was about to kill her. And… I never felt that kind of power before."

It was true. That dark power intertwined with his own felt unlike anything that he had ever wielded before. It was corrupting, it was terrible, it was… magnificent. What scared Luigi the most was that he felt that he could get used to this power, control it, when really it was controlling _him._ Then he suddenly thought:

"Where is Peach?"

The good doctor sighed again. "She's currently holding a meeting with the more influential citizens in the Conference Room and they are really _really_ hoping that they are not going to be at risk of being set alight by green, dark fires. It's just not the expected thing, Luigi."

"Ah."

"I don't suppose that this is much of a consolation but I knew that King Boo wasn't about to force you to kill anybody. He works through terror and terror is most effective when people are alive to experience it. What sort of plot does he have up his metaphorical sleeve? I wish I knew."

"Taking over the world is a favourite one," said Luigi glumly. How would it feel then to be used in such a way? His muscles still ached horribly even though he could feel the potion now working its effects.

"Well, yes, apart from that…" He trailed off. "Still, let us hope that Mario and your little Boo friend have managed to locate that antidote for you. I assume that they will be coming back soon."

"You don't think it will be as easy as that, do you?" said Luigi with a raised eyebrow.

Doctor Toadley tried to look his usual confident self. It didn't fool Luigi.

"No."

* * *

He was a big guy by anybody's estimates but as Booigi stared upwards; he decided that the Clubba waving at him rather cheerily was big.

OK, very big.

… Oh, alright then, he was massive. He was humongous.

_"Eep,"_ he said very quietly.

Mario rolled his eyes. Compared to many other creatures, Tubba Blubba wasn't that big but then, Booigi was quite a small Boo.

"Hello, Mario," said Tubba Blubba as he prepared himself something to eat. Whatever it was, it smelt absolutely delicious and it wasn't the cooking of Boo, that's for certain. "Haven't seen you around these parts for some time." Mario shrugged.

"Well, things to do, places to see, enemies to defeat and the Warp Pipe system still hasn't been fixed. We've just come from Bowser's Castle and it was a long hike let me tell you." He tried and failed to stifle a yawn; they had indeed hiked for many hours.

Tubba Blubba stopped spreading the condiments on his gigantic sandwich and quivered at the mention of his former master. "B-B-B-Bowser?" he stuttered. "He's not around here is he?"

"No, he's way back in his castle and he doesn't even know where we are." Tubba Blubba relaxed.

"Oh, good," he said. "I was worried that he would make me join his services again. I don't want to do bad things or fight you again. Battling is not my thing since I'm not invincible. Besides, me and the guys in the Boo village are going to have a barbecue later. They don't go scaring me anymore because they like my cooking so much." Tubba Blubba beamed with pride.

Booigi uncurled himself from his defensive position on the ground behind Mario and floated up uncertainly. "There are Boos around here?"

Tubba Blubba laughed jovially. "I guess you aren't from around these parts either. Of course there are Boos here! This is one of the oldest settlements for Boos. It's not a million miles away from Toad Town either. And her ladyship, Lady Bow that is, lives in a mansion up ahead. You know, if she finds out that you've been here, Mario and that you haven't paid her a visit," he whispered. "Then she'll get really angry."

"I will next time but I have pressing matters," said Mario.

"Hey," said Tubba Blubba to Booigi. "You weren't scared of me, were you? I can't see how. I'm a really sensitive guy trapped inside a big body. Did I tell that battling is not my thing?"

Booigi could have held himself up proudly and told Tubba Blubba that he must have been mistaken for he was scared by _nothing._ Or it must have been a trick of the light. However, he couldn't bring himself to say so. And besides, Mario probably would have sniggered if he said something like that anyway.

"I… get scared by a lot of things really," Booigi confessed, wringing his little hands. "I suppose you could say that it's down to my sheltered upbringing. As far as I can really remember; I lived almost my entire life in King Boo's Mansion. Have you heard of him?"

"I don't think so," said Tubba Blubba slowly. "But he sounds like he's really scary." Booigi nodded seriously.

"He is. Everybody is scared of him. They might be in awe of him but they are still scared of him. I haven't been out much; he doesn't want us to learn too much about the outside world I think. But… I never knew that there were Boos living here. I wonder if…"

"Hey, Tubs, what's keeping ya? We're starved, man!"

A group of Dusty Boos wandered up the path that lead to the front of Tubba Blubba's abode, complaining that the waft of scrumptious foodstuffs was making them hungrier than before. They vaguely expressed surprise at Mario's presence but expressed much more surprise by seeing a Boo who was not of Gusty Gulch. He was a bit paler than them and didn't deviously grin like most normal Boos but he was fellow brethren and it would be rude not to greet him.

"Hey, dude," said the front Boo whose name was Stanley. "Welcome to Gusty Gulch. This place may be abandoned and derelict but it's peaceful and quiet and hey, it's home!"

Booigi wasn't quite sure how to react. He never had proper experience in communicating with Boos who didn't belong to any official clans. In true Boo style, he shyly hid himself from view.

"And I thought we were shy," said another Boo named Herbert. He was a dark and terrifying Boo. He was a terrific Boo. Stanley mused to himself before bringing Booigi back from the realms of invisibility.

"Don't worry, we're not gonna eat you! Well, Tubs might…"

"I object to that," said Tubba Blubba frowning.

Booigi risked peeping from behind a hand. "You're not?"

Even Herbert, the dark and depressing one, chuckled lightly at this.

"'Course not!" said Stanley. "We're nice and friendly here. We don't get up to that much scaring nowadays since not many come this way; Herbert here has to keep going to Toad Town for that business. He's a scaring master by the way."

"I am," said Herbert.

"What's your name?" asked a fellow Boo named Bob.

"Er, Booigi. My name's Booigi."

"Jolly good!" said Stanley. "We'll get on frightfully well, heheheheheheh! Named after Mario's bro, well what do you know!"

"You know Mario and Luigi?" asked Booigi curiously.

"You could say we are old acquaintances," said Bob carefully.

"Yeah, as long as we don't scare the citizens too much!" Stanley cackled.

"Er… are there any Boos in Toad Town at the moment?" asked Mario.

Stanley and Bob shook their heads although Herbert seemed to be picking up on something and floated upwards. He came back down after a few moments and said: "I can hear screaming. I gather that there may be trouble there. All of our Boos are accounted for though. You mentioned a King Boo before? Do you think that his Boos have paid a visit?"

Mario and Booigi both blanched for similar but different reasons. Mario clenched his fists.

"If he has _dared_ to hurt my brother in any way…"

Stanley and Bob automatically drew close to each other for protection. They weren't used to this angry Mario. Herbert filed this for future scaring purposes.

"You want us to get you through Forever Forest as quick as possible? Is that why you are here?" said Tubba Blubba.

Forever Forest was so-called because its path kept on changing and travellers were at risk of getting lost forever. Forever, of course, being the term for how long they could wander in its midst. There were also many monsters that lurked within its shadows. There were subtle hints however, that told travellers which way to go in order to get out of the Forest. It had been changing more frequently however in recent times; the Boos at Lady Bow's Mansion wondered whether somebody had been tampering with it. Mario and Booigi had no choice but to go through Forever Forest now; the other paths were too dangerous and too slow. Only the citizens of Gusty Gulch and the Boo Mansion could swiftly navigate this treacherous area.

"That is why I am here," said Mario, his voice low.

"Can't we fly over?" said Booigi. It seemed a logical course of action.

"'Fraid not," said Bob. "It's the nature of the Forest, you see? Its effect isn't just limited to the forest floor you know."

"You'll have to see Lady Bow now," said Stanley.

"She'll help us," said Mario, looking determined.

"Of course she will," said Tubba Blubba who was slightly dismayed by the realisation that they were not going to have a barbecue today. "And we'll help in any way we can too."

* * *

**What do you think then? To summarise, Luigi is in Peach's Castle after having been controlled by King Boo through the use of Possession Poison while Mario and Booigi have escaped from Bowser's Castle with just a small amount of the antidote. I feel a quest coming on, do you?**

**And yes, Jordan-TheAwesomeCatLover, I've read the Warrior Cats series. I very much enjoyed them too. :D**

Bottom of Form


	13. Considerations

**Chapter 13: Considerations**

"I beseech you, Princess! That man is not only a danger to the populace and to your loyal councillors, but also to your royal personage! He is the source of this recent calamity and we tremble to think of what dark magics he may have been in contact with, deliberately or otherwise. When we heard of the danger that you was placed under at the Court, why, we feared for your very life, Princess. Surely we cannot risk for that to happen again and so until something is done about it, however we may go about it: _that man is quite simply dangerous and therefore, he should go!_"

"That 'man', whom you refer to in quite a derogatory manner, is not only one of the sworn protectors of this kingdom, but also one of my most loyal and trusted friends and I shall not allow you to treat him in this manner!"

_Ouch,_ thought Doctor Toadley as he stood outside the doors to the Conference Room, listening with rapt attention. _Should they tangle with her in this manner? They should not. _

As Doctor Toadley knew from personal experience, her often sweet and delicate nature could become quite the deception when dealing with serious issues such as one of like this and of course, this was right and proper for one of her royal status since there were times and places when delicacy was unsuitable and the use of aggressive force was required. Peach understood all of this: she was a master of diplomacy, she engaged in this sort of business all of the time (though not quite _this_ sort of business but one understood the picture). She, of course, had the concerns of her people at heart but here, Doctor Toadley felt that she was taking a more personal stance for not completely unfounded reasons although he did understand the issues that her councillors had been raising earlier too.

Ah, in cases such as this one, he sincerely detested being piggy in the middle.

"We hate to sound impudent and ill-considerate, Princess, but do you recall what this man has done fairly recently? The news of the court case has spread like wildfire although we, of course, cannot be fully certain in the exact details but we have heard about the rogue Boos flying about here, causing trouble of all sorts. We would have assumed that this would have been put a stop to by our… second protector."

"Councillors, I do appreciate the seriousness of this manner and your concerns are well-received. Though I may look upon this with perhaps more heart than I should, I would like to mention that I am not blinded by the previous events of the other day. Yes, I was in danger as you rightfully point out but so were my colleagues as well as the citizens who had attended the case. The rest of the populace may face elements of danger too as you have felt the need to point out to me."

"Ah, yes, Princess. But you do understand our position upon this?"

"Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I do understand your position; I am looking at this from your position now. You are worried that a number of Boos will see fit to invade our homes, wreak terror and havoc and since we have heard so much about it, use dark magic to what purposes they may see fit and to what purposes we oppose and have little hope of understanding. You are worried that this dark magic may result in… dare I say it, death. You are also worried that, since you do not know the current whereabouts of Mario, we have little means of fighting against them since you also believe that _this man_ is now in league with them as a result of earlier fraternisation with dark magic, whether it was down to personal choice or not. Of course, we have much to fear of the King of Boos too."

"Princess, we were wrong in referring to him in such a manner." The Council Member sounded quite exasperated to Doctor Toadley. "But we cannot help but feel worried about the whole blasted situation. Somebody could seriously get hurt here and we don't just mean Luigi. May we also enquire as to whether we have further knowledge about Mario's whereabouts?"

"If I knew, I would have informed you about it earlier," said Peach with a touch of impatience. "I know as much as you do on this."

Doctor Toadley sighed; he hoped that Mario would return soon and he hoped even more that he and his Boo companion had managed to retrieve that vital antidote. If they hadn't… then it was going to make life quite difficult indeed. Even he, Doctor Toadley, would have severe problems in concocting such a brew. Could it be done? Yes. Yes it could but very rarely had it been attempted before, rarely indeed.

Doctor Toadley realised something. That Boo was going to be in danger himself when he returned or subject to violent hostility at the very least from the Toads and everybody else. He may not have been here when all of the atrocities had occurred but to the townspeople, this did not excuse him from the fact that he was a Boo and therefore, most likely in league with these villains.

But wait. Just who did this Boo belong to anyway? Boos generally adhered to a system of clan organisation and it was very uncommon to see Boo loners or 'wanderers' as they were also known to be mingling with society, especially society that was far removed from its own species. And judging by Booigi's personality, the good doctor highly doubted that he was a loner. He had to belong to a clan.

But which clan? And why had he come now, befriending Luigi and offering his assistance to Mario? Doctor Toadley resolved to question Luigi about this business later and continue to eavesdrop upon the Conference Room.

… You may understand that it had not been Doctor Toadley's intention to eavesdrop upon the Princess and her council members but there were many things that he had done and had not intended; it just happened. He did not wish to be caught out though as this would lead to awkward questions, all the more awkward as he commanded quite the status.

He checked the corridors to his side and behind him just to be on the safe side but there was nobody, not even a guard. Toadley snorted, he often wondered why Princess Peach, bless her soul, kept those silly fools on the payroll. They were hardly necessary under normal circumstances (if normal could be defined) and in a real emergency, they were especially useless and ran about like headless chickens instead of thinking clearly and getting things done; Luigi had been right on that score. But, he supposed, it kept people in employment and that was the main thing.

Tired of standing up, Doctor Toadley seated himself upon the carpet and made himself comfortable, thankful that he could leave today's medical duties to the nurses and the other doctors today. He listened to the words that could be discerned from the gap between the doors.

"I fear then that we are likely doomed if we do not have our protectors to depend on," said one of the Councillors. Toadley wished he could see who was doing the talking but that of course, meant revealing himself and as already stated, he was not meant to be here. "If Bowser catches wind of this," they continued. "Then we will easily be overrun by his nefarious Koopas and Dry Bones and also his Boos. These villains never like to miss an opportunity to cause chaos and to steal somebody else's kingdom."

"I fear," said Princess Peach. "That we depend on Mario and Luigi far too often. Come, my Councillors, they cannot be in every place at once and isn't it rather much to ask them to take on this whole squadron of Boos by themselves? Do not be so disheartened. And besides, this is what the Paratroopa squad were trained for, were they not? And of course, we may count on the Toad Guards and our other forces. I assume that they have already been sent out to fight against the intruders."

It was not a question.

When the answer did not come immediately, Doctor Toadley sensed bottoms shifting uncomfortably on those velvet-cushioned chairs. He wondered who would have the courage to speak first and let slip the sheer incompetence.

He couldn't tell what was said exactly but he could quite clearly hear the response. It almost cleared his ears out.

"We-we-we felt that they wouldn't have been able to cope with the dark magic attacks and many of them, of course, are only novices at this moment in time…"

"What do you think they have been trained for!" she seethed. "As soon as the danger was realised, you ought to have sent commands to the captains to bring their regiments together. I was ever so slightly preoccupied myself as you have previously pointed out and wondering what on earth was going to happen to everybody at the hands of King Boo!"

"But many have only been trained for at least five weeks!"

"Would you prefer us to be completely defenceless instead? These forces are better than nothing or do you expect the townspeople to suddenly take up arms? These were the people being attacked! I appointed you as Councillors so that you may assist me in these kinds of affairs! I cannot do everything myself!"

He heard movement about in the Conference Hall and decided that it would be a good time to take his leave before they all came storming out. Obviously, the Council had been dismissed. In fact, they all came streaming out quicker than he anticipated and so he was forced to hide behind the curtained alcove. It seemed that they were keen to get away as fast as possible and now they were blaming each other for the mistakes made as well as getting on with their delayed jobs.

Princess Peach came out last and slammed the doors shut behind her. Doctor Toadley winced: he didn't fancy being on the end of a royal temper.

"You can come out now, Toadley," she said sweetly.

_Damn, how does she do that?_ he thought as he reluctantly stepped out into the open. There was nothing for it.

He cleared his throat. "Princess-" he began.

"Toadley," she interrupted. "Do you think I am doing the right thing? Do you think that by allowing Luigi to stay here, I'm placing others in danger? As much as I wish for Luigi to stay, I would not be able to forgive myself if anybody did come to harm. Do you know that in many other countries, the right to hold the throne is often challenged and that wars may be fought over that right? At this moment in time, I wonder why anybody would bother fighting for the throne."

She did look rather exhausted to Doctor Toadley, not to mention angry. It was quite a significant question though and he took some time considering it.

"Unfortunately, foretelling the future does not appear to be one of my skills," he said. "And if I could, I would be able to give you a truly definite answer. What I do think though is this: King Boo will not attack Luigi again until Mario returns. Why do I think this? Because King Boo wants the satisfaction of having both of them at once. Does King Boo wish to toy with us? Most likely. His Boos were probably chosen for their delight in causing terror. And of course he wants to take over the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Well, I think Bowser would be more of a threat to him," she sighed. "And you know as well as I do that they both share an especial hatred for each other. If either of them somehow managed to take control of this kingdom, then the other would have to rise up and destroy the enemy."

"Indeed," said Doctor Toadley. "But in any case, from a medical point of view, I would deem it harmful to move Luigi just yet anyway. He is recovering fast but how much more can he take? I only hope that Mario and Booigi come back sooner rather than later…"

"Who is Booigi?" Peach asked. "And why do I have the feeling that I'm not going to like the answer?"

"Ah, yes," said Doctor Toadley with a weak smile. "Well, you see, Princess, he happens to be a Boo friend that Luigi met with on the way back to Toad Town and he is currently with Mario in the quest to find an antidote."

"Why do I get told these things last?" Peach said, exasperated.

"What with everything that has gone on," he said carefully. "Did this fact slip our minds? It did. It didn't seem particularly important at the time."

"Don't you think that it is strange that the moment this Boo has turned up, all this with King Boo has happened?"

"I had thought about that myself," he admitted.

"Well, I suppose we may as well cross that bridge when we get to it," said Peach. "The forces should have been sent out now although of course, they should have been sent out ages ago to deal with the Boo problem. I am not well-versed in the art of war so you do think that employing people who know about these things would get things sorted but apparently not…"

"Cheer up, Princess," said Doctor Toadley jovially. "Can you depend on me? You certainly can! I shall make sure that Luigi will be in 100% health or my name is not Doctor Toadley! Which it is, of course. And now, I really do think you ought to have some rest since you look like a Wiggler with a wilted flower."

"That is probably the best advice I've had all day," she mumbled, stifling a yawn. "I'll try to visit Luigi later if nothing else crops up. Goodnight Doctor Toadley."

"Goodnight, Princess," he called out as he dashed back to Luigi's room as fast as his trailing cloak would allow him. He ought not to have left his patient for so long but it was just as well that he listened in for he knew that the matter had not been settled and whatever decision was made in the end could have dire consequences…

* * *

"GAHAHAHA! Mario! What a spectacular surprise in seeing you here! I had wondered when you would drop by. You have done me a grave disservice in not coming to visit me earlier you know but it is always frightfully good to see friends who are not yet in their graves. Do tell me the details of your last adventure; it is all so very interesting and I confess that the spirit of adventure is stirring my own spirit again. You mustn't turn me down now, whatever it is!"

"Lady Bow, your enthusiasm is as delightful as ever, like the silver and ever lovely beams from the moon," said Bootler, her butler and personal advisor.

Booigi was completely fascinated not only with Lady Bow (although she was worth the fascination alone due to her beauty) but with all the inhabitants of the Boo Mansion. They didn't seem to be held under rule of thumb although it was quite clear that Lady Bow was obviously the mistress of this place as well as that of Gusty Gulch. The Boos looked to him very cheery as they flitted about to and fro. Of course, they practiced scaring each other a lot but that was to be expected and they were all seemed to be doing their best in trying to scare Mario. However, they hadn't managed it yet.

Booigi had never really considered before that there might be Boos outside of King Boo's control but here was the example against that. It pleased him immensely to know this even though he hadn't quite plucked up the courage yet to talk to any of the Mansion Boos. He asked Stanley, Bob and Herbert about them as Mario made his case to Lady Boo clear.

"Why, this place has been here for hundreds and hundreds of years, probably before your great-granddaddy was born!" said the ever-cackling Stanley. "Lady Bow's ancestors built this place as a means of protecting themselves from that ghastly King Boo, can't remember which one it was since they never seem to change their names, but whatever."

"King Boo?" said Booigi curiously.

"Yeah, for all I know, probably the one that's in charge now or is supposed to be in charge at any rate. Just who does he think he is, trying to rule over every Boo out there? That's tyrannical behaviour, isn't it Bob?"

"I suppose I can agree with that," said Bob who seemed to have a careful nature. "I mean, it's just not natural for every Boo to be placed under one leader."

"Exactly!" Stanley exclaimed. "And anyway, I bet Lady Bows' ancestors would have had something to say about that king now! So yeah, they built this place for all the free Boos who didn't want to be ruled by a tyrant. Old Bootler there is very keen on pleasing the ancestors for Lady Bow's sake and he was very much against Lady Bow going on a quest with Mario a couple of years ago or something like that. Bootler-"

The trio were suddenly interrupted by a very loud screech coming from behind them. Booigi immediately curled up but then he realised who was causing that.

Stanley sighed. "Herbert, for Eldstar's sake, can't you practice your scaring skills somewhere else? You keep interrupting the conversation with all that screaming!"

"How else am I supposed to retain my title of scaring master?" Herbert grumbled as he fledged his new angry Mario disguise. It was working like a charm.

"You have some way to go before you best Bootler though," said Bob, chipping in.

"What, Lady Bow's butler?" said Booigi with surprise as he watched Bootler serve Lady Bow and Mario refreshing cups of tea. He didn't seem particularly scary. King Boo was of course, a lot scarier, scarier than master scarer Herbert even although he didn't tell him that.

"He is a legend, man!" said Stanley with awe. "He is so good at scaring that he even scared Mario and believe you me that takes some doing! But anyway, after the whole incident with Tubba Blubba and all that, Lady Bow decided to help Mario with his quest to help save the Star Spirits and all that but I'm sure you know about it."

"Umm…" said Booigi apologetically. "I don't actually. I've never heard any of this stuff before. We don't get much information about the outside world where I come from."

"Dude," said Stanley sighing again. "We are all going to have to sit you down and fill your head with all the cool and amazing stuff that we know. And I know a lot of stuff."

"Stanley," said Bob. "Until I told you last week, you didn't even know that the world is round."

"Of course I knew!" said Stanley reddening. "You just didn't hear me properly, that's all!"

"So, that's all settled is it?" said Mario.

Booigi and the others turned around as it appeared that Mario and Lady Bow were reaching the end of their conversation.

"Yes, yes, I suppose so," she said with an almost bored voice. "I do wish it was another quest though that we were embarking on. But yes, you can depend on our assistance my dear Mario and we shall also accompany you to Toad Town. I must uphold my ancestors' wish to see that tyrant brought to heel; he shall not get away with his crimes."

"Lady Bow!" Bootler gasped with delight. "It brings me great joy to see you taking on this difficult and fiendish task! I, of course, shall be fulfilling my vows as your personal advisor and shall accompany you through Forever Forest and to Toad Town. I promise that my scaring will be for necessary reasons only as well."

"Bootler, I thought you would have objected to my going," she exclaimed with surprise.

"Objected? My dear, no, I would have positively encouraged you to go on this trip fraught with danger as it may possibly be for that King Boo as he calls himself, quite simply needs dealing with and you will no doubt be adept at dealing with such villains! Come, come, we must make preparations for the journey!" And with that, Bootler merrily took himself off although, not neglecting his butlery duties, he also took away the empty teacups while he was at it.

"I do believe that is the cheeriest I have ever seen Bootler in my lifetime," said Lady Bow. "And I can assure you, Mario that that has been quite some time. Well, I suppose there is no time like the present. We shall be off as soon as Bootler has got everything to his satisfaction." She suddenly noticed Booigi as she floated past Mario. "You do not appear to be one of this Mansion's Boos do you? Did you arrive with Mario?"

Booigi looked startled when he realised that she was talking to him. "Er, y-yes, I did your ladyship."

"Pray tell me what your name is?" she asked delicately.

"Um, Booigi," he said shyly. "N-named after Mario's brother." Lady Bow gave a hearty chuckle.

"Well, what a coincidence!" she cried. "Mario, you should have acquainted me with this one earlier as well. I do believe your standards are slipping."

"I've had a lot on my mind, Bow," Mario said, rubbing the back of his neck with embarrassment. "And anyway, Luigi met up with him first despite the fact that Booigi came from King Boo's Mansion…"

Booigi flinched; almost expecting the temperature in the room to suddenly drop ten or twenty degrees past the freezing point seeing that he was now affiliated with the enemy. However, when nothing seemed to happen, he warily looked about. Lady Bow was now inspecting him.

"He doesn't appear to be an agent of King Boo's though," she said. "Well, not the sort that I'd expect anyway."

"No," Mario confirmed. "I suppose Booigi's just a messenger really. He was supposed to be getting information on us before he had a change of heart. He isn't much good at magic either and King Boo probably doesn't have much time for those who can't use magic."

"Yeah, that's right!" said Booigi, awash with relief.

"And isn't he just the cutest?" Lady Bow beamed delightfully at the suddenly taken aback Booigi. "He does have a lovely light pale blue shimmer and such little rosy cheeks! You're quite a darling really but it is a shame that you can't do magic."

"It's just something I've never been able to do properly. But I'm more of an amateur scholar really. I've learnt a lot of things from reading the old scrolls and I've copied a lot out over the years," Booigi offered. He wanted her good opinion of him to continue. Lady Bow pondered over this.

"I do believe we are in need of a scholar, or amateur scholar as you so delightfully put it," she said sweetly. "Goodness knows Bootler can't be expected to do that as well. I do keep telling him not to do so much. What's that, Mario?" she said as Mario quickly whispered something to her. Whatever Mario was saying, he was insisting upon it. Lady Bow wearily nodded; it was hard to deny Mario favours.

"Oh, very well. You may take up residence here after the entire business with King Boo is sorted out, however long that is supposed to take." Booigi wasn't sure he heard correctly at first.

"Did you say that I could stay here, your ladyship?" he repeated.

"Tut tut," she said lightly. "Open up those ears, that is what I said. Obviously, you would have to work for your keep. I couldn't just have you roaming about the place for free now could I? No, nobody answer that. Anyway, you would have to have your own bedroom as well; you'd need to keep those scrolls somewhere. I do believe we shall get on frightfully well, yes! GAHAHAHAHA!"

His own bedroom? The chance to move away from King Boo's Mansion? This was like a dream come true if he had ever allowed himself that dream in the first place. "Th-th-thank you, your ladyship!" he managed to stutter at last. Lady Bow gave both him and Mario a beatific smile.

"You see?" she said to Mario. "I am quite the generous Boo as a lady such as myself should be!"

"So I see," said Mario grinning. "Now can we get going? Forever Forest isn't a five-minute walk as you know yourself. And besides… I'm worried about Luigi…"

"I have finished the preparations, my lady!" said Bootler, carrying with him what looked like a hefty sack. "Oh, I can assure you that it is lighter than it looks," he said to the confused-looking Booigi, Stanley and Bob. "Hmm, good effort, lad," he said to Herbert as he tried to scare him witless. "That is one of the most original devices I have seen yet and I was rather unnerved I must admit. Keep trying; you'll soon get there." Herbert reverted back to normal. He had unnerved the master? This was a start!

"Are you guys, ready?" asked Tubba Blubba, speaking through the open window. He hadn't trusted himself to squeeze his bulk through the doors downstairs before and in any case, some of the Boos were probably still rather nervous of him. "We should set off before it gets too dark."

"Yeah, we're ready," Mario replied. "Be there in a moment." Mario went ahead of the group and left the Boos following him. Booigi was positively elated at the idea of being able to leave King Boo's control. He didn't know how King Boo would react exactly to this but there was time to worry about that later.

Booigi eventually caught up to Mario and Tubba Blubba standing at the edge of Forever Forest. He hadn't realised that a forest could get so dark; it was even darker than Toadwood Forest and that had been dark and creepy enough. Booigi shivered when he heard howling cries come from deep within the woods. But it was surely alright; he was with friends now. Sending Booigi on this mission was the best thing that King Boo had ever done for him.

"Er, Mario?" he said, tapping his shoulder. "I just want to say… well, er, thanks. Thanks for everything."

"Me? I didn't do anything," said Mario modestly. "If Lady Bow didn't like you, then I would have had a much harder time persuading her in letting you stay. Lady Bow has high standards as you've probably gathered."

"Aww, man," said Stanley. "I hate going through this place. Those paths just creep me out! Who knows what sorts of monsters are lurking within there? Gives me the chills every time…"

"Oh, thank goodness," said a relieved Tubba Blubba. "I'm glad it's not just me who's scared!"

"Fear doesn't master us, we master it," said Booigi. He surprised himself when he said those words.

* * *

"Did I expect this to happen? I did," said Doctor Toadley. It was morning. He had arrived back in Luigi's room only to find his patient sprawled out on the floor groaning. Doctor Toadley sighed as he yanked out the stopper off another bottle and swished its contents about. It turned out that Luigi, in his frustration, had tried practising his usual jumping moves only for it to dramatically fail and causing him to slam down onto his back but on thankfully soft carpets. It still jolted however.

"You have got to let the potion do its work otherwise how am I, genius medic that I am, supposed to be able to cure you?" said a reprimanding Toadley. He passed the medicine over to Luigi who shook himself of his temporary dizziness. "Are you as stubborn as your brother? Most certainly."

"I'm sick of being sick," said Luigi as he pulled himself upright. "I'm sick of feeling useless, I'm sick of not doing anything and I'm sick of King Boo. I can still hear his Boos every now and then and I can't even do anything about it. And I'm sick-" he said, shuddering. "Of taking this stuff as well. That's the fifth bottle you given me in less than an hour, Toadley."

"Look at it this way. The more of this you take, the quicker you'll be back on your feet and getting out there beating up the villains or whatever. And much as I would like you to take things easy, I doubt we are going to get that choice."

"Because of King Boo, I know," said Luigi, sighing. "And he'll probably be even crueller next time to the people when using me as a pawn. Stars above, Toadley, it _hurt_ so much…" Luigi stared out of the castle window and watched the dragonflies dancing by the waters of the castle's lake and the Cheep Cheeps occasionally snatching one or two up.

"I wonder what it would be like to have a normal life…" he muttered to himself as he watched the world go by. He often said this even though the thought was an impossible one. Besides, if the brothers did get what was assumed to be a 'normal' life, then they would only be bored by it anyway. And in any case, the Mushroom Kingdom was hardly something that could be defined as normal.

Doctor Toadley coughed delicately.

"I, er, wasn't actually referring to him this time around, Luigi," he said. "Although of course, he is the biggest pain up the backside in this whole situation. It's just that I overheard some interesting conversation down in the Conference Hall about you."

"Oh whoopee-doo," said Luigi. "How and when are they going to get rid of me, Doctor Toadley? Where would they like to exile me?"

"How do you know that was their intention?" said Doctor Toadley puzzled. "Even I cannot predict things with such certainty and I am Doctor Toadley! You were asleep when I checked on you last night once the Conference had finished and it would have gone on much longer were it not for certain royal intervention."

"They don't think much of me and I don't think much of them," said Luigi. "They think I'm cowardly and unwilling to take risks whereas I think they are cowardly, incompetent and all too willing to take risks, especially when it isn't their necks on the line."

"But you've risked your life several times and quite often in a short space of time too," Doctor Toadley remarked. "Much too often for my liking and your brother's I may add. They are merely pen-pushers for Eldstar's sake. As a medic, I risk my life more than they do! And is it cowardice to constantly risk one's life for the sake of others? I think not."

"That's what I said but they just brushed me aside like one of their memos. And I hate to make this point, Toadley, but most people never treat me and Mario the same, despite the stuff that I do as well, and that's what hurts me the most. More than this Possession Poison in fact."

"Hmm, you may be somewhat exaggerating the metaphorical in comparison to the literal but I see your point," said Doctor Toadley. "And you know that I treat you two the same: as occasional helpers and annoying little pests." Luigi smirked at that; Doctor Toadley was always good for a laugh for it was practically in his job description. Luigi felt slightly more cheered up and he decided not to linger over his doubts and worries for the time being. He had one question to ask however.

"What does Peach think about this?"

"She wants you to stay," said Doctor Toadley. "But she is concerned as to whether other people may be in danger since we cannot properly predict when King Boo may activate the Possession Poison and she has to put the priority of the kingdom above all else." Luigi nodded understanding; Peach fervently cared about all of her subjects. "But even if you went elsewhere, if King Boo called you, you would only be sent back here anyway rendering the whole exercise pointless. And I want to keep an observation on you as well since I refuse to let you go in the wilderness in such a condition and in any case, you make such an interesting patient."

"Haha, thanks for caring about me so much, Doctor Toadley," said Luigi, smiling. "What would we do without you?"

"Ah, don't go stoking my ego. The nurses say it is big enough as it is," said Doctor Toadley, laughing. "Now then," he said with a bit more seriousness. "The only problem we have at the moment is how to get rid of these rogue Boos. Obviously, we won't be able to get rid of King Boo himself for the time being but do I think that there are some wanderer Boos in that rabble? I certainly do. We've heard reports of random loner Boos making scare attacks on people and King Boo's Boos are supposed to be more organised."

"I thought Peach had a force to take care of this?" Luigi asked. "Wasn't there supposed to be one set up a couple of months or so ago? Me and Mario suggested it for when we're not around and apart from the fact that we can't police the whole kingdom ourselves. That was kind of the point of having a force..."

"Yes, that is the very reason why Peach threw out her Council due to their lack of competence." Doctor Toadley relayed the entire thing to Luigi from when he arrived to overhear the conversation to what Peach asked him afterwards. Luigi shook his head and wondered how on earth the Mushroom Kingdom generally lived a peaceful existence in the first place.

A quiet tapping at the door interrupted then just as Doctor Toadley came to the end of his interesting tale. A Toad Guard appeared before them and coughed nervously as he delivered his message.

"Er, Luigi," the Toad squeaked. "Her Highness says that she is heading into town to meet with some Beanish traders that have just arrived. She says it is probably nothing to worry about but Beanish traders don't normally come at this time of year. She says that she would like you to meet her in town since you know a bit about the Beanish people. Er... that is, providing you're alright of course."

"I'm fine enough," said Luigi before Doctor Toadley could object in any way. "Oh, come on, Toadley. You're always saying about the benefits of fresh air for people and I've been cooped up in here for what feels like too long. You should come to, by the way. We'll be down in a few minutes, Toad, thanks for the message." The Toad nodded and scurried away from the pair.

"Didn't you go to the Beanbean Kingdom some time ago?" Doctor Toadley asked as he accompanied Luigi to the castle grounds. He seemed pleased that Luigi was recovering remarkably quickly (though of course, the Possession Poison may have contributed to that). Luigi nodded.

"Yeah, that was when we thought Princess Peach's voice had been stolen and so we had to get it back and it's a long story, especially as Bowser wasn't really behind it. I'll tell you about it some other time."

Luigi breathed in the fresh air as he finally got outside of the castle. Staying inside for periods of time longer than two days (not counting his unintentional midnight walk) never agreed with him at the best of times. But what could go wrong on a day like today? The Boos seemed to be staying low at the moment since it was daytime; Boos were usually nocturnal creatures by nature with a few exceptions and in any case, the business of scaring was much more effective at night. The only people around were Toads and Koopas and the Beanish traders were most likely in the town square where markets were often held.

What could go wrong? Maybe it was due to the awful experiences he had suffered over the past few days but suddenly, those words took on a more ominous tone. The hairs on the back of Luigi's neck prickled uncomfortably and he was pretty sure that they were nothing to do with Boos.

"Do I sense that you are troubled? I do," said Doctor Toadley, giving him a concerned look through his half-moon spectacles. "What is it, Luigi? You're not feeling any pain are you?"

"No, but something… doesn't feel right. I can't quite put my finger on it. Beanish traders don't suddenly turn up unannounced in Toad Town for one thing since they send a representative ahead of them to greet Peach first. And there's something else…"

"Ah, the Sixth Sense," Doctor Toadley remarked. "That is something that should not be underestimated. I presume I have one myself considering the wonderful predictions I can make. Come on then, let us make our way to the town square…"

Doctor Toadley was about to say something else when through the relative silence of the early morning, they heard an ear-splitting screech. This was followed by more silence and then came the sound of a panicked crowd. The pair looked at each other and soon enough, Doctor Toadley was racing to try and keep up with Luigi who had gone dashing ahead as usual; any pain that he may have had was apparently forgotten. Even so, Luigi felt that he was slower than usual and it took him five minutes to reach the town square. When he did arrive, he saw many of the Toads had been bound against their will with glowing, magic ropes of some kind, including the Guards, and he stumbled across shed Beanish disguises.

Shed Beanish disguises…

Oh, hell.

"LUIGI!"

Luigi was suddenly surrounded by a large number of Koopatrols, all of them wearing extra spiky fisticuffs and menacing grins. Luigi recognised the voice that shouted his name and growled. So, that blasted Magikoopa was here again was he? Evil villains apparently could not function without their capable right-hand minions. He had Peach within his grasp as well; captured in an ordinary-looking cage. Luigi sighed; how did the Princess manage to get herself captured at least once every month? _If only I got here sooner…_ he thought to himself. Not that it would have made much of a difference anyway.

"I wondered when you would turn up," said Kamek lightly. Truth to be told though, he wasn't counting on Luigi to turn up _at all._ He knew that King Boo had been utilising the power of the Possession Poison; the effects were all too clear. Luigi should have been put out of traction for a lot longer than this. Kamek wasn't sure whether this was a good or bad thing overall. However, it was a very bad thing at the moment. They hadn't even managed to get to the second part of the plan which was namely, to wreak havoc and chaos. Heroes always got in the way even if they were planning to capture him as well.

"Why do you always have to do this?" Luigi questioned even though the Koopatrols had spears which they were currently pointing at his chest. "Is there ever any motivation behind these attacks other than doing it simply because it's evil? And where is Bowser? Or has he left all of the dirty work for you to do?"

"Do you really think I'm going to answer those questions?" Kamek groaned. "In any case, if you give yourself up, we'll return the princess completely unharmed. And I know Mario isn't here to protect you at the moment," he added with a sinister smile. "Goodness knows where he is after escaping from the castle." This is where broomsticks came in handy when the warp systems were out of traction. It hadn't taken them very long at all to arrive at Toad Town.

"Do you really think I'm just going to give myself up?" Luigi returned. "I'm having a sense of déjà vu. And I think I'll have another moment of déjà vu when I defeat you and your stupid minions."

"Oh, you're in no position to make retorts," Kamek snapped. He clicked his fingers and the Koopatrols moved even closer to Luigi. Luigi tried to ignore the sudden throbbing pain in his heart and lit up a green fireball, as a warning to Kamek. He wasn't too fussed about what would happen to himself as long as Peach was fine.

"Luigi! Where have you gone? Aha, there you are! And… oh," said Doctor Toadley as he slowly realised the situation he had just walked into. "Hey, I have patients to treat!" he yelled as soon as he bundled up and tossed over to the rest of the Toads.

"You'll be treating my patience shortly," said Kamek. "Now, Luigi, are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way? Remember who has the upper hand here."

Luigi let the flames in his hand fizzle out. He gazed at Princess Peach, Doctor Toadley and the captive Toads. The pain was getting worse again; he sincerely hoped that King Boo wasn't about to activate the Possession Poison at this moment in time. Unless of course, if he could somehow control it himself…

"What should I do?" he muttered under his breath.

* * *

**You know, it may take me ages to get round to writing another chapter due to a bunch of excuses such as college (now finished), requests, Xenoblade Chronicles (masterpiece of a game), etc, but I do eventually get round to it. Thanks for sticking with me, guys. :)**

**Do you think I should move this to a T by the way? It's pretty dark stuff and I'm also wondering whether I should do an early chapter and develop Luigi and Booigi's friendship into a bit more depth before they get separated. It would require a bit of editing on the other chapters but I'll see what you think.**


	14. Beware The Dangers Ahead

**Hello everybody! It's been a while hasn't it? Well, truth to be told, I was wondering whether to continue with this at first. In the time that has passed since I first started this story, I think my style and ideas have changed somewhat and I wondered if I could keep this one up, especially as there are parts which, let us say, I'm not sure about, not too unusual for a writer I guess. If I started this one now, I think it would be very different. (Although I would wait until I finished the others; note to budding writers: try not to have too many projects running at once!) **

**But then I thought: quite a number of people like this story very much. And having done a number of chapters already, it would be a shame to have this go the way of Geuvadan's Beast; an excellent Luigi story that has unfortunately been discontinued. So having done a bit of two other stories I am working on, I finally returned to this. Thanks for believing in my story everyone, even though I am a very slow updater. (And the fact that I never make plans; the section with the Star Spirits below literally came to me as I was writing it.) **

**So then, I hope you like this chapter and I shall stop rambling for now. :)**

* * *

**Chapter 14: Beware The Dangers Ahead**

Luigi hoped that his quivering wouldn't be mistaken for fear, or at least, so much fear as to render him a coward in the face of danger for his own life, for he was scared, he had to admit it, but he was scared for Peach's sake and that of the captured Toads. He was also scared that he could end up doing something that would endanger them far more than Kamek had planned, if he had planned to do anything with them at all.

_Mario should be on his way_, he thought, reaching out with his senses. _He's a lot closer than he was last night. Maybe I can delay Kamek for just a little while longer._

"Well? Have you come to a decision?" Kamek muttered grumpily. One of the Koopatrols prodded Luigi with his spear as if this would hurry the green-capped hero up. "I haven't got all day you know. His Evilness has a plan to be getting on with."

"Do you think I'm going to rush for the likes of you?" Luigi retorted. "And anyway, what plan is this supposed to be? If it was just your usual kidnap-the-princess routine, you would have already zipped off on your broomsticks."

"Oh, please, that is such low-grade villainy, if you think I'm just going to tell you the plan," Kamek sighed. "Honestly, I didn't become Bowser's right-hand Magikoopa for nothing. Even Bowser wouldn't be that stupid. Well… I'm not that stupid anyway," he remarked seeing Luigi roll his eyes.

"Is this anything to do with King Boo?" Luigi asked. He watched Kamek for any betrayal of emotion.

"Look," Kamek sighed, adjusting his spectacles and gripping his broomstick a little more tightly. "You want to keep the princess safe, correct? And I need you in my custody. Yes, yes, I know what you are thinking, but if you just hand yourself over without fighting us, then we'll release the princess, OK? Undo the lock, Herbert," he ordered.

Peach was surprised when she was escorted out of the cage unharmed and in the presence of Bowser's Troop as well. The captured Toads were relieved to see to see that she was alright, even if they were still in a bit of a predicament themselves. Luigi would have run towards her and keep her protected but he was still being held back by the Koopatrols.

"What is there to stop you simply capturing Peach again once you've got hold of me?" Luigi growled. "I swear if you harm her…"

Damn. Kamek hated it when heroes asked these sorts of questions. "I promise she will not be put in harm's way." He held his palms up as a sign of innocence before remembering that it would be a good idea to tuck his wand away. "Magikoopa honour."

"Do you even know the meaning of the word?" Luigi said coolly. Luigi tried to suppress signs of his pain. King Boo surely wouldn't attempt anything now would he? Not in broad daylight. But now that Kamek was here, he needed to find something out.

"So what are you planning to do with me?" Luigi said, glaring at the chief Magikoopa. "You don't usually take such an interest in me. I'm guessing that something went wrong and now you're trying to remedy that situation. You were planning to use me but King Boo got in the way, didn't he?"

"He is nothing but cowardly, sneaky scum who can't even be called alive!" Kamek hissed. "We did all the hard, back-breaking work and he thinks that he can just whip in there and render our efforts and our plans useless. No, we are not allowing this to continue any longer. But, I suppose it was not difficult to work out, was it? King Boo's little antics only brought him further to our attention and of course, the fact that he sends spies into the castle. And now he's doing what? Causing a little bit of pointless terror? He really does not see the potential you have in store."

"Am I supposed to be pleased with that?!" Luigi snapped. "That you think I have potential! You think you can just use me for whatever plans you have in mind and you think King Boo is foolish for not having the same plans?!" Luigi conjured up a fireball although Doctor Toadley uneasily noticed the black sparks leaping from the fire. Extreme emotions were more likely to open Luigi up to the Possession Poison even when he was not being controlled by another being.

"It's always the same with you people! You always think you can just take over the world and for what purpose? You, Bowser and King Boo aren't any different from each other at all! Why don't we just end this here? Me, you and your little rag-tag bunch of minions." The fireball suddenly grew more intense. _I could use this_, Luigi thought, feeling the dark energy burn inside him. _I'd be doing the world a favour, getting rid of evil scum like these. Then I could finish Bowser once and for all and King Boo… I'd make him less than a ghost. _Luigi's eyes darkened. _There would be nothing left of him…_

"Do anything as rash as that and I will have the Princess in chains and make sure that your little fungi-topped friends pay the price," Kamek whispered icily. The Magikoopa only needed to give the order and he would be obeyed instantly.

_Thank goodness_, Toadley thought with relief as the fireball suddenly flickered out and Luigi's eyes cleared. _If it's affecting him even without King Boo's influence, then this is even more dangerous than we thought._ _These things aren't toys. And it could backfire on the likes of these villains all too easily._ He looked towards the town gate where he expected Mario and his Boo companion to come through. _Do I hope you have the remedy? Most certainly._ _And do I hope you'll be here very shortly? You better be…_

"No more games, Luigi," Kamek said coldly. "Make your decision now if you want these civilians to live." The Koopatrols left Luigi and surrounded the hapless Toads instead, treating them to their most menacing grins and the business end of their recently sharpened spears. Peach objected to this harsh treatment of her subjects but she was prevented in taking another step closer. She saw Luigi moving towards Kamek.

_I guess I have no choice_, Luigi sighed inwardly. _I can't let them to anything to these guys. They have nothing to do with this. _"Leave them alone," Luigi muttered. "I'll come with you. Just… don't hurt them."

"Finally," Kamek said. Just to make sure that Luigi didn't change his mind though, he had a couple of his Magikoopa minions quickly bind Luigi via magical means much to the plumber's surprise. The Koopatrols released the Toads but Peach immediately found herself back inside the cage. She was getting quite tired of these situations. A skeleton key would be useful in these circumstances.

"You said that Peach wouldn't be harmed!" Luigi yelled, enraged.

"And she hasn't been," Kamek smirked. "What better way to keep somebody out of harm's way than by putting them in a cage. They can't get out but once it's locked, a person can't get in either. I didn't say we wouldn't be proceeding in the capturing business. Oh, come on," he said as Luigi thrashed against the bind put on him. "That had been part of the plan all along. And even though we should have had power over you, it was still part of the plan to come and _collect_ you. And perhaps your brother too, if he was there at the time. He always does seem to put a spanner in the works."

"Stay still!" Ruby hissed as she and Baruch struggled to keep Luigi bound; his constant thrashing was threatening to break the chains placed on him. They both cried out as shockwaves were sent through them. He was using magic, strengthened by that poison. Even so, he shouldn't have been able to use it! These chains were supposed to stop anyone from using elemental magic, even Boos, and they were creatures of magic. Kamek yelled at Luigi to stop fighting and Toadley was almost inclined to agree. He did not want Luigi to start becoming dependant on the black power that the Possession Poison offered. Surely, surely, there had to be a way to counteract that…

"Somebody is going to suffer if we don't move out of here," Kamek growled. At least they had little trouble with the pathetic resistance offered to them earlier. While the Paratroopa squad provided an interesting if brief aerial battle, the Toad Brigade were essentially useless, even more so since they were at a disadvantage by only being able to fight at ground level. Had those fools even been trained? They ought to have been grateful that their lives were spared since if they were having a proper battle, then that certainly would not have been the case.

"Indeed, somebody is going to suffer…"

Luigi's blood froze. He managed to turn himself around and see the figure that was recently dominating his nightmares. He groaned. Most Boos were night-dwellers and many who went out in the day reported a significant drop in magic levels, especially if the sun was blazing away. This did not apply to all however to the likes of King Boo who most likely belonged to the lucky minority. This was one of the aspects that had helped him become king in the first place, a very long time ago.

"YOU!" Kamek snarled.

"And what do you think you are planning to do Luigi?" said King Boo delicately. "It isn't polite to steal that which belongs to others." King Boo flashed a mocking grin.

"Speak for yourself," Kamek grumbled. "There is no way you could have had the faintest idea about this sort of plan if you hadn't stole the details from us! And the power source! When Lord Bowser gets here…" Bowser was still some way off no thanks to Mario and his little Boo sidekick, causing all that trouble for no reason whatsoever when they could just have easily complied with Bowser's request.

"When one leaves such crucial details lying around, you cannot but expect them to be intercepted in such a manner. I do believe it was an excellent idea of mine to discover what my enemies were planning once I was freed from that dreadful painting."

"How did you get out of that painting anyway?" Luigi blurted.

King Boo turned his red eyes on Luigi making the plumber flinch. He smiled. "Ask your friend. He was very helpful in my operations. And now," he continued as Luigi thought King Boo's words over. "I do believe you were attempting to carry out your pathetic little plan."

"Ha! And I suppose you are going to try and stop us, hmm?" Kamek sneered. He was expecting Bowser to arrive in his beloved Koopa Clown Car very shortly. "Your Boos are powerless during the day. What are you going to do? Cover your faces while we face you? That is hardly the definition of threatening in my book."

"True," King Boo agreed. "Most of my Boos are not particularly strong during the day. Some are, but certainly not all. We have been working to overcome that as well as creating defences for ourselves against certain enemies. Come out now." Kamek hissed when a number of Boos suddenly materialised and gathered themselves around their monarch. "There is strength in numbers. Or did you perhaps forget that? We would be fools indeed if we allowed our weaknesses to be exposed quite that easily. I suggest you stop fighting now, Luigi," King Boo said as he watched Luigi try to free himself again. "Although I do admit you are doing quite a good job of breaking that bind. I am not sure that would have been possible without the Possession Poison. Besides, you shall need to keep your strength up."

"What are you going to do with him?!" Peach shrieked from the bars of her cage. Doctor Toadley wished that he had trained as an escapologist for situations such as this or at least, situations that certainly required a method of escaping.

"Come, come. What do you think?" said King Boo, wearing his most pleasant of smiles. "First, my enemies shall be vanquished using a power that they were far too short-sighted to provide proper security for. Then, of course, I shall be rid of someone who has been an enemy to Boos for many years. And from then… we shall see how things develop from there, hmm?"

"If you think you can use me for whatever plots you have in mind, then you've got another thing coming!" Luigi hissed, sounding braver than he felt. _I need to be stronger this time. I can't let him take control of me again. _

"Oh, really?" King Boo raised an eyebrow. "I was under the impression that you shall do what I say. Not willingly perhaps, but nevertheless, _you shall do as I say_."

"You're going to kill him if you keep doing this!" Doctor Toadley shouted as Luigi began to scream and writhe with pain. It felt even worse than last time, a terrible burning sensation spread throughout his entire body and everything in front of Luigi seemed to turn to shadows. And yet a voice in the back of his mind was telling him that this pain would simply vanish if he lay back and accepted the king's commands. "Do you want him dead? No, you do not! What use would he be then?"

"Oh, I assure you, he shall not die. I shall make sure of that," King Boo whispered, his eyes glowing a bloodier red than before. "And don't you know, doctor? Those under the affliction of Possession Poison cannot actually die, not even if it was asked of them." It was almost too easy. Even if the Toads weren't subdued, they would have been no problem, he had his back-up Boos to deal with the Magikoopas should they try to attack at this moment in the proceedings and his old enemy Mario, would hopefully meet an old, ghostly friend of his in the forest; a ghost who was not in fact a Boo, a ghost that Luigi had dealt with before in an old, dilapidated mansion. "Soon, our plans will come to fruition…" he hissed, directing his words towards Kamek and his Magikoopas, all of whom had been quite taken aback.

Peach desperately made a plea to the stars, hoping that they could send any sort of help at all. Then she noticed a familiar figure charging towards them all.

"GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHER OR I WILL KILL YOU!"

* * *

"Mario! You simply must slow down! As much as I am aware of your impatience, you cannot keep running ahead of us. You could get lost and that would most definitely slow us down."

Mario sighed and brought himself to a halt. If Forever Forest had to choose a time in which to confuse and befuddle its travellers even more than normal, then it surely could have had the courtesy to do so on any other day than this. Was it dark magic unleashed by the likes of King Boo? Or had some sinister environment affecting creature moved into the woods and forced it go into defence-mode? They had not yet found the reason out and Mario was getting more frustrated by the minute.

"Why does everything in this place have eyes, man?" Stanley shuddered as a set of eyes flashed at him for a moment from a dark spot before disappearing. "Why does everything in this kingdom have eyes? Even the hills have eyes! It's freaking me out!" Tubba Blubba was inclined to agree as he could see even more eyes than the Boos at ground level could.

_That would be an interesting topic to research_, Booigi thought as he wandered along the dark paths with the rest of the group. He found himself following Lady Bow particularly closely. Anybody else might have told themselves or others that they simply wished to keep a close eye on this fair lady and protect her from any malignant forces that could suddenly make themselves known although truth be told, Booigi already knew that she easily handle any situation by herself and that he was sticking close by for his own protection. He could quite easily admit to himself that he was a coward by any species' reckoning but as far as Boos were concerned, this was a grave crime. He just hoped that they would not bump into King Boo once they reached the other side as he could just see himself cowering upon the ground and making a fool of himself.

"I hope I'm not the only one who keeps hearing strange noises," Tubba Blubba whispered nervously. It didn't seem right to raise one's voice any louder than a whisper in these woods. "And I certainly hope that that there aren't any ghosts in these woods either, no offence to you guys."

"None taken," said Herbert solemnly. "There aren't any ghosts in these woods apart from us. And that ghastly, dead hand on your shoulder probably isn't real either." He cackled as Tubba Blubba flung himself into the air and Booigi zipped through Mario causing the plumber to shiver violently. There was a resounding crash once Tubba Blubba landed heavily back on the ground. "Words can be as effective as actions sometimes," Herbert added, seeming quite pleased with himself.

"That's enough of that," said Bow sharply. "I don't want anybody being separated in these woods or it will take forever and a day to find them again." Herbert gave a slight grin as an apology; the corners of his mouth having turned up ever so slightly. "Drat, this forest does so get on my nerves at times. You would not be able to tell if it was day simply by looking upwards and around you if we didn't have any time-pieces."

"This forest was planted by your ancestors, Lady Bow, as a means of protecting their inhabitants and indeed themselves, from wandering peoples and enemies," Bootler intoned in his usual role as a historical guide. "Though ancient, the charms imposed upon the trees and indeed, the very flowers, have kept their strength until this very day, and were first initiated by Jambooree the Very Peculiar who first came into existence in the year-"

"Yes, yes, I know all that," Lady Bow sighed. There was probably no need for history books with Bootler around. He very likely predated most of them. "Though why is the forest acting strangely now? It has never failed us before."

Bootler appeared troubled. "I am ashamed to say that I do not rightly know, my lady. Perhaps it is sensing that King Boo wishes to attack our dear home next once he has finished terrorising Toad Town and its castle and is setting up its defences of higher-level bewilderment charms in preparation for that likely event. Or something even more terrible than that, a creature that is resistant to its confusion tactics and revels in darkness like ourselves, but also revels in fear and despair…"

"And that is something which I seriously do not have time for!" Mario snapped. He had a fireball lit to provide a small amount of light, illuminating his worried face. "Something's going to happen to my brother. In fact, it could well be happening now. I can sense it."

"How can you sense each other?" Booigi asked, confused. "Is that another one of your powers?"

"In a way," Mario muttered. "It can get disturbed by a presence of highly powerful dark magic though. Despite that, it's a useful skill to have, considering the things that we've been through and the things we're probably going to go through in the future. Because… you all might think I'm some superhero who can overcome anything and everything even if I'm blindfolded or something ridiculous but to be honest… I wouldn't be able to go through most of these things without knowing that Luigi is backing me, whether he's with me or at home. And of course, I have my friends too," he smiled. "I really couldn't do these things entirely on my own."

King Boo was convinced that the Mario Brothers surely could not be invincible and Booigi supposed that he was indeed correct. If the brothers were separated and alone, then they were formidable certainly, but definitely not invincible. Working together though, backed up by each other, Booigi could tell that they would be the strongest team in the world, protecting and looking out for each other, their bonds heightening each other's powers in the midst of terrible battles to stop villainy in its tracks and save the world. King Boo likely despised this because of how it had been used against him but Booigi could not help but admire Mario and Luigi even more for that.

"But of course, my dear Mario," Bow cried. "I was quite worried that you would have forgotten about me then. And your other friends too I suppose. Now, let us hurry through this forest before the sun sets again. Bootler, are you quite sure you can carry all of that? Do help him with that load would you Mr. Blubba? You are much more used to carrying heavy loads after all."

"I would not if I were you," said Bootler as he relinquished his backpack to the towering Clubba. Tubba Blubba could barely lift the weight and fell forwards once he did manage to pick it up.

"What do you have in there?" Lady Bow sighed wearily as Bootler lifted the backpack again with barely a hint of effort. Stanley was once again impressed by the ancient butler and would have asked for his autograph in honour of his awesome status had he not already had an autograph from him.

"Oh, the usual requirements, my lady," said Bootler. "Some badges you picked up from your little quest last time, some health-restoring items for the journey, some offensive and defensive items in case we are caught in a battle and most importantly, the tea equipment."

"Yes, well, perhaps we can take tea after we have sorted Mario's problem out…"

"Are you using magic to make that lighter?" asked Booigi warily.

"Why, yes, young one, indeed I am. Perhaps I could give you some lessons in magic, hmm, since you say you are rather lacking, with Lady Bow's permission of course."

"We'll see," said Bow. "Now, hopefully, we are not too far from-"

"Shh!"

"Did you just 'shh' me, Mario?!" Bow cried indignantly.

"Yes I did, Bow. I definitely heard something then, something that doesn't normally exist in these woods. I need you all to be very careful."

The group were silent for the time being, the only sound being from the light breath of wind that chilled the back of their necks, at least until they told Herbert to stop messing about. Boo Woods was even more silent if that was possible, as if it too was listening in for the slightest hint of danger.

"It could be nothing," Bob said nervously. "Or maybe it's just an animal or something. Ha-ha, are you trying to scare us Boos, Mario? Um, what is everyone staring at?" he whispered as everybody's eyes suddenly widened and Tubba Blubba took one massive step back. A sudden chill lingered in the air, one that penetrated to their very bones. Mario and Tubba Blubba's breath formed fog patches and everybody began to shiver. There in the woods, seemed to collect an orb of darkness that could not be touched without making the victim scream out loud over the sudden flashback of dark memories.

"It's… behind me, isn't it?" said Bob. He slowly turned around and screamed as a purple hand lunged forward to grab him, missing the Boo by inches. He rushed over to Lady Bow's protection and quivered. Herbert wouldn't have admitted it but even he was scared. Nevertheless, it was another addition to Herbert's scare tactics list.

The ghostly creature inched itself forward in the light or whatever could be classed as light in the perpetually dark Boo Woods. Lightning inexplicably struck the ground before it followed by an almighty rumble of thunder. It did not flinch. Its blank, glowing eyes roved over everybody but more on the two more… alive beings currently in the vicinity, Mario and Tubba Blubba. And out of those two, one of those carried a significantly greater proportion, and indeed, more powerful life force than the other…

"Wh-what is it?" Booigi stuttered. His mind yelled at him to flee but somehow, he appeared locked in place. That was probably a good thing though so that Booigi did not appear to be a coward in front of the others.

"Bogmire," Bootler said softly. That name rang a bell for Mario. "Nobody knows much about it, no; even I have little information about it. All I know is that it represents fear and despair and is an entity of darkness." Bogmire gave a nod of confirmation, as if pleased that that much was known about it and sneaked forward.

"Luigi battled this ghost once," Mario said, suddenly remembering. "In the mansion with that Poltergust 3000. He told me later that he never ever wanted to fight the likes of that again. It just reminded him of so many dark things…" Mario thought for a moment and then lit a fireball. If they were going to defeat this entity, since it was hardly going to let them go without a challenge, then surely light and heat would be helpful in some way and if not, then at least it was still a comfort in these dark woods.

Bogmire raised its ectoplasm arms and before anyone knew what was happening, a number of objects shrouded by a black aura unearthed themselves from the ground and soon, a swift breeze blew away the inky blackness revealing their true nature to the onlookers: gravestones. There were seven in all, each looking instantly worn so that its spidery writing could barely be read, all cold and damp to the touch, even where the moss had begun to creep over the grey stone.

Wait, seven in all? But there were eight beings in the party…

"Where's mine?" Mario whispered, seeing that his was not numbered amongst the others. Bogmire's eyes flashed red and Mario suddenly found himself struggling to stay upright.

_The king of ghosts wishes to dispose of you personally. _Telepathy? Certainly, no-one else seemed to hear its words and all were currently flicking their gazes between Mario and Bogmire, not knowing what else to do. _Your bones shall only suitable for the grave-worms. Your mind shall be ripped asunder so that you cannot even beg for mercy before you meet your death. Your name shall be distorted, spat upon, disgraced, and cursed for all eternity, so that even the lowliest creature knows not to whisper your name for fear of what it may do to them. You shall be reduced to less than nothing and even then, the part of you that still exists will forever be placed under the king of ghosts' control so you can witness what darkness is then wrought by your very own brother's hands…_

"Over my dead body!" Mario howled. It was not, he reflected afterwards, the wisest thing to say, especially as Bogmire gave a light chuckle that paralysed everyone with terror. Stanley did not even notice until much later that he had wet himself. Mario forced himself upright. "You think King Boo is going to succeed? I think you're wrong. Whatever happens to me and my bro, we will both fight until the very end and nothing that either of you are going to do will stop that."

Bogmire hissed. Its arms were lowered and in the dim light, nobody noticed little black patches moving underneath each member of the group. Booigi felt very uneasy and not just because of the purple spectre threatening them either. He floated a little way upwards.

_How brave,_ it sneered, this time forcing everybody to listen to its words. _But how long shall you remain brave for? And how long… will you resist this?_

At its words, the black patches instantly revealed themselves to be carbon-copies of their creator and with their ghastly hands, grabbed each member of the group with the intention of dragging them underneath the earth. They all struggled and cried out but Booigi had been too high up for the mini-Bogmire to grab. Booigi zipped further out of reach and gasped with terror. All his friends could do was struggle and try to stop themselves from being sucked into the dark depths of the earth. Bogmire looked up lazily and narrowed its eyes. _You'll be next after these have been dealt with. _

Booigi desperately tried to think. What could he do? He had practically nothing. Even Tubba Blubba probably had more power than him. What use was his only skill of turning himself and others invisible?

Wait… turning others invisible…

* * *

"If we cannot destroy it directly then we must attempt to strip it of its dark energy so that perhaps, there is a chance of reverting it back to the normal star that it should be."

The Star Spirits had gathered again as well as Starlow since as far as things were considered, she was practically an expert on Dark Stars. Of course, the only reason for this was because no other Star Sprite had actually fought a Dark Star and even the Star Spirits had only had to subdue lesser Dark Stars before.

"Our panic was clouding our judgement," Eldstar continued. "Have we not dealt with such things before? We must attempt to drain the Dark Star of its energy in the hope that it will resume its status as a Power Star."

"How are we supposed to do that?!" Starlow cried. "It's a lot more powerful than anything we've come across before. That one Fawful had before was about my size; this one towers even above all of you! And besides," she said in quieter tones. "Won't this have similar consequences to destroying it in the first place?"

"It shouldn't do so," said Skolar thoughtfully. "If it's not destroyed, then it can't destroy its creator. Making it into a Power Star again would be akin to its never having turned in the first place. But it is difficult," he muttered. "Very difficult. It would require a lot of energy. It's not as if it could even be transferred to another universe or something since it would only start to wreak chaos there and the fact that it would still exist… Who knows what could happen in that time? It could turn even more powerful and corrupt and Luigi would still be connected to it…"

"OK, OK! I get that. So we need a lot of energy. Are we all going to chip in and do that? I suppose it will need a lot of pure, light energy or something like that. We'll need all of the Star Sprites then won't we?"

"We'll need quite a bit of strength," Muskular mused. "But, if I remember rightly, there is a very specific object that we need…"

"Right! So what is it? It's going to have to be in the vault for situations such as this, right?"

"Actually," Mamar sighed. "It isn't. It's called the Aura Stone and it is deep within the Shadow Pits."

"Oh, great," Starlow grumbled. "And what is it doing in there? I understand if things have to be made but if things already exist, why do we have to go to horribly dangerous places and risk dying in the process just to get one measly item that could have been stored elsewhere, where it is easy to get, if something terrible is going to happen? Who even puts those objects there in the first place?!"

"Well, much of the time, their power will not be activated if they are not stored within the right place," Klevar answered, looking up from his book. "So, unfortunately, they cannot be stored in an easy to reach place. And of course, if they were kept in such a place, it would be easy for criminals to steal them for their own nefarious purposes."

"I don't see how that can be used for a nefarious purpose…" Starlow muttered under her breath.

"Who knows how the minds of villains work?" Misstar opined. "But Starlow," she said, seeing the Star Sprite's grim look of determination. "Are you considering going after this fabled object yourself? It may be too much for you and we Star Spirits must remain up here to keep a check on this Dark Star as well as attend to our other duties, those that cannot remain neglected for long."

"Well, I'll just have to find someone to help me, won't I?" said Starlow. She already knew that asking Mario and Luigi would be out of the question considering the dire situation that the brothers had found themselves in. But she was confident that she could find a couple of companions to help her on her quest. There had to be a few other heroes about right? She hoped so, since pretty much all of the Star Sprites up here were downright useless (apart from herself, of course).

Actually, now that she thought about it, there was at least one Star Sprite who had proven himself worthy and competent in her eyes. He had taken it upon himself to fix the Star Road when that was once destroyed after all…

"So where are these Shadow Pits?" she asked. She was itching to get going. It would do her some good to go down to the earth again.

Klevar gave her the directions and location and along with everybody, wished her the best of luck. Starlow zipped off before anyone could dare say anything to change her mind. And even if the Star Spirits suddenly declared that it was far too dangerous for her to go, she would have gone anyway and damn the consequences because the consequences of not going would be so much worse.

"We need more Star Sprites like her," Muskular mused quietly to himself once the yellow Star Sprite vanished from sight.

"Indeed…" Eldstar murmured as he went to check upon the condition of the Dark Star. There had not been a rumble for the past five hours or so. It was not exuding much power at the moment. In fact, it was still asleep.

For now…

* * *

Bogmire was enjoying this spectacle. It was all the more atmospheric considering that it had begun to lash it down and lightning occasionally streaked across the sky. Thunder rumbled in the distance. It would be so good to have some new souls to torment in the underworld, especially the one belonging to the red-clothed plumber, whom it remembered seeing fleeing a number of Boos in an old, abandoned mansion. Bogmire had no intentions whatsoever of handing Mario over to King Boo; it would be like trading away a chest full of gold coins for a Dried Shroom. The plumber was at its mercy now anyway (and Bogmire rather lacked in mercy); why wait? Besides, Bogmire would be doing King Boo a favour; why let your enemies remain in the land of living when one could kill them straight away?

Mario was struggling harder than the rest though this was not due to lack of effort on the others' part. He tried to conjure up his Firebrand, hoping that the sudden onslaught of fire and light would burn the grim spectres into letting go but it still clung on viciously.

Bogmire looked on with interest. This was far more delicious than being sucked up into a vacuum cleaner for goodness sake! It had learned from that lesson although it realised that it could have employed the same tactics as last time since these intruders did not have the means of defeating it. So focussed was Bogmire on relishing Mario's imminent demise that it did not notice the remaining member of the party turn one of its friends invisible, surprising the underground spectre into letting go, for it seemed as if it no longer had anything to hold on to.

"You get the others freed," Lady Bow hissed. "That spirit has made a despicable stain upon my honour and only I shall decide when my time upon the earth is up!"

Bogmire emitted an ear-splitting screech when Lady Bow blasted her strongest spell against the purple phantom. Booigi set about freeing the others with no time to waste since his fellow Boos had by now nearly been dragged under and had been unable to use the simplest Boo spell in their arsenal to free themselves. Tubba Blubba had uprooted a particularly large tree with the intention of bashing it against in the ground in the hope that the shockwaves would startle the black Bogmire into releasing its grip. He was the hardest to free not only due to his bulk but the fact that two phantoms had grabbed him on account of his size.

"Upon my word as a butler, I shall see you destroyed, foul fiend, for daring lay even a single wisp upon my fair Lady Bow!" Bootler cried before launching himself against Bogmire. If Bogmire was the sort of creature that screamed with terror, it would have done so for Bootler was acting like a thing possessed, flicking through his many illusory transformations whilst wailing on the spirits with such a force that would have woken up the inhabitants of an entire cemetery. Even Bow was startled. Chimera, Manticore, Gorgon, and many creatures inhabiting only the deepest parts of the Pit of 100 Trials: Bootler knew his monsters. There was a reason Herbert looked up to him.

Mario was the last to be released and even when temporarily rendered invisible, the stubborn black Bogmire refused to let go, not falling for the same trick that had got the others. However, with Tubba Blubba helping out, Mario was simply yanked out of the ground with startling force. The black Bogmires blinked with surprise and they either dissipated or sank themselves into the ground out of sight.

Mario was surprised and perhaps a little disappointed to find that there was little he could do to aid Bow and Bootler since they already had the terrible phantom down to its critical point. Bogmire snarled and howled and before the two Boos could throw out another round of Boo magic, it departed into the blackness of the woods, to a place where there was neither sunlight nor moonlight, perhaps for good.

"I do believe that is the most fun I have had for at least a century!" Bootler declared as he dusted himself and Lady Bow down of the muck they had accumulated. "Why, this reminds me of a certain incident dating from at least 290 years ago when I was trekking the countryside with Combooter the Technical…"

"Are we all alright?" Bow asked urgently.

"I th-think so," Stanley stuttered. "Do you all realise that _close_ that was?! We nearly passed on, we were nearly no more. We almost ceased to be, almost expired and gone to meet the Star Spirits. We were practically stiff and bereft of life and probably not resting in peace! We should have been pushing up daisies and become a part of history. We were nearly off the twig, almost kicked the bucket, shuffled off our not-so-mortal coil, nearly ran down the curtain and joined the invisible realm. WE WERE NEARLY EX-BOOS! And ex-human and Clubba," he added as an afterthought.

"Are you quite finished now?" Bow asked sweetly. Stanley gasped for breath and nodded.

"At least there haven't been any lasting effects," Bob moaned. "I never thought something like that was going to happen to us in a million years."

Herbert said nothing. The experience had been terrifying, sure, but now he had lots of excellent ideas for scaring people and his fellow Boos.

"Come, we must get going again!" Bow announced. "We shall have to thank you later, Booigi, when we are not in mortal peril or any other sort of peril." She motioned for everybody else to follow her and took the next winding forest path.

Perhaps he was not quite so useless after all. He might not have been able to learn much about Booish magic but the simple trick of invisibility was proving to be quite a wonderful asset indeed. Booigi glowed with pride as he considered this and that he had saved somebody's life more than once simply by rendering them invisible. He was sure that Mario was very grateful for this assistance too but at the moment, he was busy concentrating on reaching his brother. Once or twice, Mario winced with pain.

"Are you hurt?" the little Boo asked seeing Mario's grimace.

"No," he muttered. "But Luigi is. That King Boo must be doing something to him now. And believe you me, when I get there, he is going to pay…"

Booigi noticed that the paths were getting easier to follow now and were far less tangled than they were before meeting with that terrible phantom Bogmire. How odd that a ghost should have such an effect on these woods. Mario more or less knew where he was going now and everybody was finding it difficult to keep up with him.

"Wait for me, guys!" Tubba Blubba puffed, hindered somewhat by his overly-large frame. "I'm not exactly speedy, you now!"

A scream suddenly cut through the air startling the crows hidden in the treetops to take off. Mario was as pale as a Boo for a brief moment before launching himself into a furious dash across the now-straight path. Even Bow fell behind with the rest of them and she knew from their last enjoyable little adventure that the portly plumber was surprisingly fast. Mario soon disappeared from their sight with only a red fireball to illuminate his way.

"I'd be worried if I was King Boo," Bow smirked. "He might not be but that's because he doesn't know Mario like I do."

They were nearly at the exit now and Booigi could just about see Mario burst through the final obstacle with burning hands to support him. Everybody heard what he yelled though as he undoubtedly faced the king of all Boos.

"GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHER OR I WILL KILL YOU!"

* * *

Mario was not known for being an angry sort of person, generally taking a relaxed attitude to life no matter what it threw at him. Perhaps problems that irritated the general populace to no end had little effect on him precisely because of the dangers he had faced over the years. But if it was something that concerned his brother… well, that was a different matter entirely.

If Peach had seen her beloved plumber angry before, then she could not recall it. The intense look of fury that Mario was giving King Boo now was frightening, as well as the blazing fires erupting from both hands that could surely scorch a person at fifty paces. Mario quickly regained his breath and stepped forward closing the gap between himself and King Boo.

Speaking of King Boo, he was outraged. What did it take to slow one measly human down? Did he have to do everything by himself? One, as they say, could simply not get the staff these days.

"Mario, what a pleasant surprise," he said icily. Mario spoke just as icily in his reply.

"Let my brother go now."

"Mario…" Luigi said weakly. He had been temporarily released while King Boo was surprised by the plumber's sudden appearance. "How…?"

"I had help," Mario said just as his companions arrived, gasping for breath and looking very much worn out but as soon as Lady Bow spotted King Boo, she gave her most disapproving glare and floated over to Mario's side.

"I am quite glad that we got here on time," she said quietly. "But you," she said directing her speech at King Boo. "You give Boos a terrible name. Many of us are quite happy living in peace and not going out to seek trouble. Not all of us want world domination you know, even if you consider it to be for the good of our species. But that's only an excuse that you have trotted out for goodness knows how long. You have always been too ambitious for your own good, King Boo, and I only use that title since you have no name I can call you by, other than, let us say, coward."

_She's right,_ Booigi thought. _He doesn't have a name really. Funny how I've never noticed that before. _It was quite sad really, the idea of going through life without ever having a proper name to go by.

"Traitors," King Boo hissed. "You allow yourselves to remain in this pathetic existence because you are scared to revolt for the good of your fellow beings. You willingly let yourselves be led by this lowlife rabble," he said indicating the trussed-up Toads and the caged Peach. "I am ashamed of you. You fail the Boo cause."

"If the Boo cause is about wrecking others' lives, causing terror not just for mortals but for other Boos too, then I am quite happy to fail it," Bow hissed back. "Yes, we are aware of the actions you take, ones that you think are somehow good for the future. We've taken in quite a few Boos who originally belonged to communities brought under your rule. We've even had some come your community itself. Were you aware of that? It seems to me that many disagree with your policies and that you only seek power for its own sake."

King Boo chose not to respond to her and instead turned his cruel, red gaze onto the now quivering Booigi. "And you. I gave you a comfortable home, fed you, kept you warm; even let you be educated by our very best, even if you proved yourself entirely useless at magic. Now you side with the enemy and this is how you repay me?"

Luigi's eyes widened at this sudden revelation since this Boo hardly seemed to be a cohort of King Boo's. And in all honesty, he wasn't, not really. From the short time that Luigi had known him, the Boo did not seem to have a malicious streak in him whatsoever, even if he tried. Booigi tried to draw himself up now and attempted to speak, even if somewhat squeaky.

"You were the one who sent me out in the first place and I didn't even think at the time that I was meant to be a spy! Or did you just want to get rid of me because I don't fit your idea of a Boo? You say you took me in but you've always hated me for it and had me punished for little reason. You've never even said why you took me in, in the first place!"

"You resemble your parents in many ways, you know," King Boo said. "A cowardly mortal-lover with no appreciation for the rich history of his species and with ideas of having friendships with the Toads, the Koopas, perhaps even the Magikoopas for all I know or care." Mario only just noticed Kamek and his companions, sat quite still on their broomsticks. For their own sakes, they better keep that way. "You truly want the truth? Your old clan got into a little bit of trouble for breaking our laws and they had to be executed, as simple as that. We did not execute the children; that would have been most distasteful. They were young enough to understand better ways and my fellow cohorts and I split them up so that we would share the burden. I, of course, ended up with the trickiest one of the lot and I am quite disappointed in myself for not having made a significant impact on you. After all I did for the others too, even providing the executioner. But, I suppose we cannot always have things our own way.

"I shall take my leave now," said King Boo gathering all his Boos towards him. "I have accomplished what I set out to do I suppose for you realise," he said to the Magikoopas. "That you have no chance of taking control now. I see it would be foolish to take Mario on now as well. But I do not have to fight of course. I shall let another do that for me. Farewell, Mario Brothers."

King Boo seemingly disappeared before Mario had the chance to release a burning inferno upon him and the flames only hit empty air instead.

"That was undoubtedly interesting," Kamek muttered. He then heard the sound of a propeller quite close by. "Ah. My Lord Bowser. I am afraid that you are too late."

"WHAT?!" Bowser growled as he pulled up in his Koopa Clown Car. "That King Boo is always running away from a fight. Upon my word as a Koopa King, I will get my claws on him! But, hey," he said cheering up and eyeing the occupied cage. "At least my fair Peach is ready for collecting."

"Bowser," Mario sighed. "Will you ever give up? Luigi, are you alright for a battle?"

Luigi had managed to pick himself up and brought out his hammer. "Now that you're here, bro, I'm ready for anything."

"Now, really!" said Doctor Toadley heatedly. "Do I think that he is in no condition to fight? Yes, yes I do think- oh, never mind…" he trailed off seeing the brothers already throwing themselves into the fray against Bowser, Kamek and their allies. Lady Bow lent her assistance to Mario and Luigi as well. "I suppose we are getting a battle after all. Hey, if you are just going to float there, will you at least free us? Was your mission successful? I hope so," he whispered as Booigi went over to untie the knots.

"Not completely," Booigi admitted. "Things… happened. But I got a little of it back." He showed Toadley what he had collected and the doctor gave a sigh.

"Is this less than I hoped for? Yes, yes it is. But can I do something with this? Most certainly. I can work out the ingredients that make this up but somebody shall have to go out and collect them, you know."

"I thought so," said Booigi as he watched Herbert and Bootler scaring the Koopatrols silly if they hadn't been stomped on by Tubba Blubba. Stanley and Bob were flying themselves at some of the airborne Magikoopas and Peach had already been transported out of her cage. She, Toadley and Booigi went to free the other Toads.

"So this is Booigi?" Peach queried. The Boo in question blushed quite pink. "I see you have travelled a long way with Mario if you came from King Boo's mansion. Is he right though if he says that you are now working for the enemy?"

"Er, y-yes, your Highness," Booigi stammered. "He's right because with what he has just told me, there's no way I'm going back there." He kept his focus on the knots whilst telling himself not to cry. _I'll help these people any way I can. I'll do what Mother, Father and Teresa did. I'll help these people and help others too. That will make me a true Boo. I'm not like King Boo and I never will be. I've already shown that haven't !? _

_Yeah… I'll be a true Boo in my own way. _

* * *

**I'm glad I returned to this; I'm quite attached to that little Boo after all. :) Did anyone recognise the shout-out I gave to Stanley by the way?**

**I want to add Mario and King Boo to the character list thingy since you can have four now although it always seems to revert to just Luigi and Boo. I'll try again at another point since they are important characters as well.**


End file.
